
Class . 
Book, 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



HISTORICAL 2C DESCRIPTIVE 2£ STATISTICAL 






i THE 



CITY 



m 
I 
m „ 






I 

**■ 
i 

li 

E)l '^:PENNSYLYANIA:^ 1 - 



ALTOONA 



1896 

i i 







Illustrated by the Pen and the Photographer s and 

Engravers Art, Published for 

The Board of Trade, 



LAKEMONT 
PARK. 





*W»K*~- 




NE HUNDRED AND SIX ACRES of wooded land, side of a mountain converted into a 
little Paradise. Thirteen acres of water, with boats and electric launch. Large Casino, 
where entertainments are given afternoon and evening during summer. Carousel for little people. 
Shrubbery and flowers, picturesque paths, rustic bridges. All brilliantly lighted by electricity. 
Fifteen minutes' ride from Altoona or Hollidaysburg, and cars every seven minutes. Grounds are 
free. Popular place for conventions, picnics and outings. For further information address, 




C. J%. Much, Sec' j/ and "Ureas. 



TJhe j{ltoona and JLogan i/alley 
ulectric ^Railway Co. 
Jtltoona, !Pa. 



SUBURBAN HOMES, 






2C SUBURBAN BUILDING SITES, 



SECURE AN IDEAL HOME AT LLYSWEN, 




WHITTIER AVENUE STATION, LLYSWEN, Erected in 1895, (Beezer Bros,, Architects:. 




PICTITRESOI T E location unsurpassed ; with all the advantages of an urban and suburban home comprising- 200 acres, one- 
half of which has been plotted. Streets graded, permanent walks laid and beautified with thousands of choice shade trees. 
Located between Altoona and Lakemont Park, but rive minutes ride from the city line and twelve minutes from the Post Office. 
In natural and artificial advantages it leads all suburbs, and with its ease of access is much more desirable for homes than most of the 
sites within the city limits. 



A Few of its Advantages. 



First — The Altoona & Logan Valley Electric Railway, with its double track, runs through the centre of this suburb. 

Second— An abundant supply of the best mountain water (as pure and abundant in August as in April) has been piped specially 
for the use of residents of Llyswen, having a HoO-foot head or about 35 per cent, greater pressure than the Altoona city water supply, an 
important factor in case of tire. 

Third— Dust and sm, ike. the bane of Altoona housekeepers, entirely absent and housekeeping here, from a drudgery becomes a 
pleasure. 

Fourth — The question of sewerage and light will no doubt be met the coming season, a large sewer is now being constructed 
through the entire property, which will afford cheap and ample drainage. The Altoona and Logan Valley electric Railway are now 
furnishing electric arc lights for street lighting. The extension of the Altoona Gas Company's mains and the wires of the Altoona 
Edison Electric Illuminating Company is assured. 

Fifth— To the children's delight each lot is almost half an acre in extent, ensuring health as well as pleasure to the little ones, and 
the price of these lots is less than even in the cheapest city localities where the areas are less than half the extent of those in Llyswen. 

Sixth— With each Lot is given stock in the Company equal to price of lot, until $50,000 worth of lots have been sold. 

Seventh— Each person building a home in Llyswen gets an annual pass for one year over the electric road between Altoona and 
Llyswen. 

A number of modern homes have been built and are now occupied, others are in course of construction and contract. No pains or 
expense will be spared by the Home Company to further beautify the new suburb or add to the comfort of its residents, its aim being to 
bring modern homes with pleasant surroundings within reach of all. 

TERMS : Lots sold on easy monthly payments. The best inducements ever offered hereabouts either for homes or investments. 
For further information or particulars call on or address 



J. D. BLOOMHARDT, agent. 



THE ALTOONA SUBURBAN HOME CO., 

1106 Twelfth Street, 251toona. 



I Wm. J. | 

t Sable & Co. i 



$ JJhe 'Daylight Store. 

# PERHAPS NO other house in Central Pennsylva- 

W 

A, ma so little needs an introduction to the public. 

«^r For twelve years this name has been spreading- far 

t£ and wide through the counties adjacent to Blair. 

Jl To-day the name is a household word for fifty miles 

«y around, and not unknown, perhaps, for fifty more. 



J tfnd Vhis is Why. 



UP-TO-DATE and agressive ; aiming-, with 
marked success, to give to Altoona the Best Dry 
Goods Store in Central Pennsylvania ; metropolitan 
in its management ; quick to adopt every new fea- 
ture which betters its service ; procuring at all 
times for its patrons the very latest and best pro- 
ductions of the world's markets, it has received the 
recognition which its merits deserved, and stands 
to-day, without a peer in Central Pennsylvania, as 
a modern, up-to-date Department Store. 




CONSTANT, untiring energy to have at all times 
the best— but bought with the shrewdness and 
skill which gives to the public the best at the price 
of the ordinary. This is the strongest character- 
istic which has marked its phenominal success. 

THE RELIABILITY of its advertising announce- 
ments, which never swerve from the strict truth, 
has given to them a weight never to be attained by 
the announcements of a house which is less faith- 
ful to its promises. 

X X X 



Shopping by TTJai'l. 



THE MAIL-ORDER DEPARTMENT of this 
house is systematically arranged for the most 
prompt and efficient service. No house anywhere 
takes more pains to carefully and satisfactorily 
serve its mail-order patrons. Satisfaction is always 
guaranteed, or money promptly refunded. 



£ 



| X The Quickest Mail Order House in Central Pennsylvania, X f 



£ WILLIAM R GABLE £ CO, 3 



13 202 2 Eleventh Avenue, 



ALTOONA, PENNA. 






ILLUSTRATED 



A COMPLETE PEN-PICTURE OF THE CITY OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA 
AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1895. 

HISTORICAL. X DESCRIPTIVE. X STATISTICAL. 




DEPICTING IT'S ADVANTAGES, BOTH NATURAL AND ACQUIRED, AND IT'S 

BRILLIANT FUTURE PROSPECTS AS A GREAT RAILROAD CITY. 

THE COMING METROPOLIS OF CENTRAL PENNA. 



Map of the City and Engravings of Prominent BuMd ings, Important Localities and Representative Citizens, 



PREPARED AMD EDITED BY CHARLES B. CLARK, ESQ. 
FOR THE BOARD OF TRADE. 




Dcoicateo to tfyc Jrtenfcs of progress. 



<ED ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF CONGRESS, IN TE 
CHARLES B. CLARK, IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRA 
CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 



i altoona m II 






LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION, 




LTOONA is situated about thirty miles southwest 
of the geographical center of the great state of 
Pennsylvania, just at the eastern base of the Alle- 
gheny mountains, near the headwaters of the Juniata 
river; the "Blue Juniata" of Indian song and legend, and 
on the Pennsylvania railroad. It lies in the upper or western 
end of Logan valley, or ' ' Tuckahoe ' ' as this vicinity was 
calledin early days, in the central part of Logan Township, 
in Blair County. By rail it is 117 miles east of Pittsburg 
and 235 west of Philadelphia, although an air line would 
be one-fourth to one-third less. Baltimore and Washing- 
ton are 150 miles southeast and Buffalo 200 miles directly 
north, but by rail the distance to these points is nearly 
twice as great. 

Originally laid out in a narrow valley, it has filled 
this and climbed the hills on either side and grown in all 
directions, so that a large part of it is built on hills of mod- 
erate elevaton. The city lines as now established embrace a 
territory two and one-fourth miles long and one and one- 
fourth miles wide, but it is built up as a city a distance of 
four miles long and two miles wide. Less than fifty 
years old, it has grown with such surprising rapidity 
that it is now the eighth city in the state, in popula- 
tion, and second to none in material prosperity. 

The lowest ground in the city is 11 20 feet above 
the level of the ocean and the hills rise 100 to 150 feet 
higher, making the site and surroundings picturesque in 
the extreme and furnishing innumerable points of obser- 
vation, from which nearly the entire city may be taken 
in at one view; 3 r et in few places are the ascents so 
abrupt as to interfere with the laying out and grading 
of streets and avenues. The railroad passes through the 
heart of the city from northeast to southwest and the 
avenues are laid out parallel with the tracks. Crossing 
these at right angles are thoroughfares of equal width 
denominated streets; and both streets and avenues are 
given numerical names, beginning at a base line and 
numbering in regular order from that. First avenue is near 
the southeastern boundary of the city and First street, 
near the northeastern limit. To this general rule there 
are some exceptions but on the whole, the city may be 
said to be regularly laid out. 

In the central part of the city, on the lower ground, 
are located the railroad compan} T 's machine and locomotive 



shops, freight warehouse, passenger station and an immense 
hotel, around which the business of the city clusters, this 
being the "hub;" although the ever increasing business of 
the road has necessitated the building of additional shops 
at two other places in the eastern suburbs. 

Altoona is unique in having its site away from any 
considerable stream of water but to the northeast a short 
distance is the Little Juniata, and to the southwest Mill- 
run, both of which furnish a considerable quantity of pure 
mountain spring water, while still farther to the west and 
south are Kittanning and Sugar-run streams, the former 
being the source of supply for the city water system. 

The character of the buildings of Altoona is very credit- 
able, considering her youth. There are 7,000 to 8,000 
dwellings within city limits, inhabited by 36,000 industri- 
ous, frugal, well-informed, cheerful and happy people, 
while 2,000 more houses and 8,000 more people are just 
without the corporate lines. All taken together make 
one thriving city of 44,000 inhabitants; and the time is 
not far distant when its boundary lines will be extended 
to include them all as well as the 10,000 more people 
who will have their homes here when Altoona celebrates 
her semi-centennial. 

Aside from the business blocks, which are nearly all 
brick, about three-fourths of the buildings are frame, a few 
are stone, and the remainder brick or brick cased; 
nearly all are neat and comfortable, many are more 
than this ; while not a few are palatial in architectural 
design and finish, the home of wealth and refinement. 
Eleventh avenue, on the northwest side of the railroad, 
from Eleventh street to Seventeenth street, is the great 
commercial and mercantile center, where real estate and 
rents are highest. Here are the banks, newspapers, post- 
office, the great dry-goods stores and hotels, with the 
passenger station but one square distant. The wholesale 
establishments are principally 011 Eleventh street between 
Tenth and Eleventh avenues, and Green, and Eleventh 
avenues, between Seventh and Ninth streets. The manufac- 
turing district, aside from the railroad shops, is on Ninth 
and Margaret avenues, west of Seventeenth street; and this 
is also the location of the retail coal trade and dealers in 
builders supplies, lime, sand, brick, terracotta pipe, etc. 
Other business centers of considerable importance are 
Twelfth street and Eighth avenue, Eighth avenue and 
Ninth street, and Fourth street and Sixth avenue. The_most 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 



desirable residence locations are on Twelfth avenue between 
Eleventh and Sixteenth streets, and Broad avenue, formerly 
Broad street, between Nineteenth and Twenty-seventh 
streets, and Fourteenth avenue near Eleventh street. 

The street ear lines. City Passenger and Logan Valley, 
motive-power electricity since 1S91, traverse Eleventh ave- 
nue from Ninth to Eighteenth streets, Seventeenth and 
Bridge streets from Eleventh to Eighth avenues, down the 
latter to Fourth street, thence to Sixth avenue and out 
Sixth to First street and beyond to Bellwood junction ; 
the entire length of Chestnut avenue from Eleventh street 
to First street, and beyond to Juniata borough one mile, 
and Bellwood seven miles northeastward : on Union and 
Broad avenues, from Eleventh avenue to Thirty-first avenue, 
near the new suburb Westmont : from the corner of Sev- 
enteenth street and Eighth avenue to Seventh avenue, out 



Altoona is supplied with water from two mountain 
streams which empty into the gathering and storing reser- 
voirs at Kittauniug Point, a picturesque spot six miles 
west of the city, within the circle of the famous "Horse- 
shoe" bend of the Pennsylvania railroad and under the- 
very shadow of the Alleghenies' crest. The drainage area, 
is wood covered mountain sides and the water consequently 
pure and cold and sweet. It is brought to Altoona through 
large iron pipes by force of gravity which is sufficient to- 
carry it to all residences in the city. The water works- 
are owned and managed by the municipality. 

The city building is situated on the corner of Twelfth 
street and Thirteenth avenue. Here the mayor has his office,, 
the police headquarters and city prison are here, and the 
offices of water superintendent and street commissioner as. 
well ?s the council chambers, where common and select 




Pennsylvania Railroad from Bridge Street Looking Northeast — Entrance to Machine Shops Yard 
and Pittsburg Division Round House. 



Seventh avenue to Twenty-sixth street, and along the street 
to Fifth avenue; from the corner of Twelfth street and 
Ninth avenue along the avenue to Thirteenth street, along 
the street to Fifth avenue and along this avenue to Thirty- 
first avenue, and southeastward to Lakemont park three 
miles, and Hollidaysburg, the county seat, six miles 

There are now over eight miles of finely paved streets 
in the city, including the three kinds most popular, 
asphaltum, concrete block and vitrified brick, extending 
over a large part of the best business and residence por- 
tions of the town, and the coming season will see this 
largely augmented. Altoona is well sewered; having a 
sewer system, recently completed, capable of meeting the 
requirements of a city of 100,000 inhabitants. 



councils meet regularly twice a month. The other city 
officials have their offices in rented rooms pending the 
building of a magnificent new City Hall to cost $100,000. 

Altoona, although the metropolis of the county, con- 
taining more than half the total population, is not the 
county-seat, not having been in existence when that was 
established at Hollidaysburg, then a thriving borough. 
The court-house and county offices are easily accessible, 
however, by electric cars which arrive and depart every 
quarter hour between six o'clock in the morning and ten 
o'clock at night. 

The society of Altoona is excellent, and the people 
are of more than average intelligence ; the undesirable 
foreign element, so predominant in some cities, is almost 



X x illustrated ALTOONA. X X 



entirely absent here. The citizens of foreign birth are 
mostly German and English, of the educated class, and are 
among the most respected. There is a church building to 
every eight hundred of population, nearly all denomina- 
tions being represented, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish, 
all well attended. The public schools are of the best and 
there are beside, a number ol parochial and private schools, 
kindergartens and commercial schools. 

Every citizen of Altoona has a business, profession, 
or trade, and works at it; few drones or idle people are found 
in this busy hive of industry. As might be expected, 
where industry reigns,, the people are law abiding, peaceful, 
moral; criminals are few, crimes rare, litigation not popular, 
while there are a number of legal gentlemen resident here 
it is a noticeable fact that most of them depend more 
upon the results of successful business ventures for their 
income, than on fees received from legitimate law practice. 



While from its elevation, it might be inferred that the 
climate would be severe, the facts are otherwise ; the 
mountains break the force of the north and west winds and 
the winters are seldom more rigorous than on lower levels 
in the same latitude elsewhere, and the usually prevailing 
weather of spring and fall is marvel ously delightful. The 
air is so pure and stimulating, so full of ozone, that to 
those in good health mere existence is a delicious luxury 
and even the invalid enjoys living until the last. 

On the whole Altoona is a veritable "gem of the 
mountain," beautiful to view and pleasant to live in; its 
excellent qualities are only beginning to be appreciated 
and understood. As time passes it will continue to grow 
in size and in the affections of those who have their homes 
here, or who for limited periods visit the place, to feast 
their eyes on the beauties of nature so lavishly displayed, 
and breathe the pure invigorating air. 



SUBURBS AND SURROUNDINGS, 

»\. ^v ^v 

THE SUBURBAN PARTS OF THE CITY HAVE BEEN GIVEN VARIOUS NAMES AS FOLLOWS* 



Millville, which, as the term is used, 
Millville, comprises Allegheny and part of West- 

mont and is all that suburb lying south- 
west of the city line at Twenty-seventh Street and north- 
west of Ninth Avenue and the Hollidaysburg Branch 
Railroad. The greater part of this suburb, as well as 
part of the city now within the Fifth Ward, was plotted 
and laid out bj' Dr. S. C. Baker and called Allegheny about 
the year 1870; but a smaller plot adjoining Allegheny 
on the west was called Millville, and as Millville, the 
town on the two plots, has been known for twenty years. 
However, the railroad station on the branch at this 
point, about one and one-fourth miles from the Altoona 
Station, is called Allegheny Furnace. Millville is quite 
level and is building up rapidly, being a very pleasant 
residence place. It is not incorporated. 

Westmont, just west of Millville, is 
Westmont growing up very rapidly and seems des- 

tined to become the most popular suburb 
of Altoona. This results largely from the enterprise 
and liberality of its projector, E. H. Flick, Esq., who 
sells the lots for a very low price and on easy terms, and 
who has not only set shade trees along the streets and 
avenues but has built a large number of fine houses 
there. The City Passenger Railway extends from the 
heart of the city, along Broad Avenue, through Mill- 
ville and to within a few squares of Westmont, while 
the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad skirts it on 
the northwest, and a station will doubtless be located 
there at an early day. It will be about two miles west 
of the Altoona Depot. 



Northeast of Eighteenth Avenue and 
Fairview, . east of Eleventh Street is a populous dis- 
trict, outside the city line, known as Fair- 
view. It is situated on ground considerably elevated 
above the central parts of Altoona, is a pleasant place 
to live and is the home of a great many employes of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Car Shops. 

Oakton lies on high ground West of 
...„ ' Eleventh Street and northwest of Twen- 

Millertown, 

Newburg. ty-fourth Avenue. .\ Millertown is 

just northwest of the Fifth Ward beyond 
Eighteenth Avenue and west of Washington Avenue 
and Eighteenth Street. It has about 500 inhabitants 
and is soon to be incorporated with some of the sur- 
rounding territory as a Borough by the name "Logan." 
Newburg is northwest of Millertown, along the Dry 
Gap Road which is a continuation of Washington Avenue 
over the mountains to Ashville, Cambria County. 

Collinsville is the oldest town in Logan 
Collinsville. Township and was the location of the 

PostofB.ee from 1817 until Altoona was 
founded. It lies southeast of the Sixth Ward of Altoo- 
na, in Pleasant Valley, and is reached by an extension 
of Sixteenth Street from First Avenue, the distance be- 
ing but one-half mile. Only about 200 people live here 
and it presents a decayed and ancient appearance, but in 
the immediate vicinity are several fine farms with good 
farm buildings and large thrifty orchards, and Pleasant 
Valley is not a misnomer. 



CAPITAL STOCK PAID IN 

$50,000 

Fidelity Banking Co., y 

ffLTOONS, PK. 
"C^^JAMKS W. F1NDLEY, Cashier. ^^ 






B. VI BUNKKR. 



j. b. flec::. 



BUNKER & FLiECK, 

(onlrgcfors 30d <f)(iilders. 

DEALERS IN 

BOUGH AND DRESSED LUMBEE, SASH, DOORS, SHUTTERS, 
BLINDS, MOULDINGS, ETC. 



OFFICE and YARD, 
410 to 420 Seventh Avenue. 



^LT OONH, PR . 



o. l. McCartney, 

[Dlumbcr, ©as and (§team f©ittei% 



Batli Tubs. Water » 

Closets. Boilers, > 

Oas Fixtures. 4 



Fine Synitary Plumbing a Specialty. 
611 SEVENTH AVE. 

ALTOONA, PA. . 



a. a. JOHNSON, 

TIN ROOFING, SPOUTING, 



Heavy Sheet Iron Work, Hot Air Furnaces. 

1318 EIGHTH AVE., ALTOONA, PA. 



•< EBY h 



_. No. 709 TWELFTH STREET. 
HE only store on the East Side handling FORTY DIFFERENT 
Lines of Goods. NO TRASH, NO SECOND Hand Goods; but 
only first-class goods of every kind. Prices below all of 
them. Carpets, Oil Cloths, Curtains. Lamps a Specialty. 

^^ >a. S. EBY, 

No. 709 TWELFTH STREET. 



JOHN FULLEUTON, President. 



H. K. IU'cCAULEY. Secretary and Treasurer. 




ron lo 




M A ?s- II FACTL 



— °r REFINED IRON 



BARS, BANDS, HOOPS, SCROLLS, OVALS, HALF OVALS, 
AND HALF ROUNDS. 



STANDARD QUALilTY 
TO P. P>. p. SPECIFICATIONS. 




& 



enna. 



Fine Groceries, Flour, Feed, Etc 

TELEPHONE 943. 
CHESTNUT SVE. RND ELEVENTH ST. 

DEBARBER BROS. 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN 

l=-OR E7IGN e,mcl rDOTM BSTIC 

|fruits| 

^.INiED CONFECTIONKRY. 

1112 and 1224 Eleventh Avenue, Altoona, Penna. 



H. R. EARLENBAUGH, 



DEALER IN 



General Merchandise, 

GROCERIES, DRY GOODS, FURNITURE, 
NOTIONS, BOOTS, SHOES, Etc. 



328 and 330 Lexington Ave. 
1408 Fourth St. 



Altoona, Pa. 



M. B. McGR^TH, 

DEALER IX 

IoalofallICiNId 



TELEPHONE 1035. 



\ C^ 



Bell Telephone 1343. Phrenix Telephone 61. Phcenix Telephone 128. 

Offices and Y r ards — 1004 Green Avenue, 1811 T'nion Avenue, Second 

Avenue and Wallace Street, Juniata. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



Juniata is an incorporated Borough and 
Juniata. lies about one-half mile Northeast of the 

city line at North-Second Street and 
Chestnut Avenue, on the north side of the railroad. It 
is the location of the Juniata Locomotive Shops of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. But the borough 
lines do not take in the works, as the Company prefers 
being- on the outside. There had been a small village 
occupying part of the present site of Juniata for ten or 
more years prior to the erection of the Locomotive 
Shops, known as Belleview, but not incorporated. On 
the erection of these shops, however, in 1889 buildings 
sprung up like magic around them, and little Belleview 
had such a boom that she outgrew herself and her name. 
"Juniata" was adopted as the most 
appropriate name and a borough 
charter was obtained August 7th, 
1893. The Logan Valley electric cars 
run here from Altoona every few 
minutes and every half hour a car 
goes to Bellwood, five miles north- 
eastward. Juniata has in addition 
to the Locomotive Shops a large ice- 
ing station of Armour & Co., sever- 
al stores, a fine brick school build- 
ing and three churches, also a post- 
office, which, as there is another 
Juniata in the State, is called Kip- 
ple. The southern terminus of the 
Altoona, Clearfield and Northern 
Railroad is at Juniata, the passen- 
ger station being on the line of the 
Electric Railway and near the en- 
trance to the shops. 

East End, Greenwood 
East End. and Pottsgrove are 

all east of the Eighth 
Ward of Altoona and on the south- 
eastern side of the railroad. They 
have a combined population of near- 
ly 1,000 and will eventually all grow together and be 
taken into the city, as the Twentieth Ward perhaps. 
One George Pottsgrove built a dam on the little moun- 
tain stream here many years ago and operated a small 
saw and grist mill until his water right was purchased 
by the Altoona Gas and Water Company and the water 
piped to the new town of Altoona in 1859. 

Llyswen is the latest suburb to be added 
Llyswen, to Altoona and lies farthest from the city, 

being on the Logan Valley Electric Rail- 
way, about one mile south of the city line at Fifth 
Avenue and Twenty-seventh Street. This is intended 
to be the aristocratic suburb, and lots are sold with some 
restrictions as to buildings and use. A number of fine 
cottages have already been erected there and a fine 
station and waiting room by the Logan Valley people 
whose cars pass in either direction every fifteen minutes. 
All these suburbs are in Logan Township, and with 
the possible exception of Llyswen should be taken into 
the city. 



Nearby Towns and More Distant Points, 

Eastward from Altoona two and one- 
Blair Furnace, half miles, on the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Elizabeth Furnace, is Blair Furnace Station, a small village 

containing no stores nor business places, 
It is the nearest station to Juniata and but half a mile 
distant. . \ The next station eastward is Elizabeth 
Furnace. There is no village at this station, but nearby 
is the old " Sabbath Rest" Furnace and a postoffice with 
that hallowed name, given to it in the early days be- 
cause the owner of the furnace banked the fires on Satur- 
day night and allowed his men to rest on Sunday con- 
trary to the custom of most other iron manufacturers at 
that time. 




Residence of Dr. S. L, 



McCarthy, Corner of Eighth Avenue and Fourteenth Street, Altoona, 

Seven miles east of Altoona is the Bor- 
Bellwood, ough of Bellwood with a population of 

1,500 to 1,800 and considerable business 
importance, being the southern terminus of the Penn- 
sylvania and North Western Railroad, formerly the 
" Bell's Gap," which extends north-westward to Coal- 
port and Punxsutawney. The repair shops and office 
of the Superintendent of this road are at Bellwood, .\ 
The next three stations East are Fostoria, Tipton and 
Grazierville, mere hamlets of no particular importance. 

Fourteen and one-half miles east, near 
Tyrone* the line of Huntingdon County, is Tyrone, 

the second town in population and im- 
portance in Blair County, having, with its suburbs, be- 
tween 8,000 and 9,000 inhabitants. Three lines of rail- 
roads branch off from here, extending north and north- 
west to Clearfield, Centre and Clinton Counties and reach- 
ing the towns of Clearfield, Curwensville, Osceola, Phill- 
ipsburg, Bellefonte, Lock Haven and other places from 



10 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 



»c ..«. 



whence much coal and lumber is brought to Tyrone. 
Continuing- eastward from Tyrone on the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, Huntingdon County is soon reached and the 
important towns in their order are Huntingdon, Lewis- 
town, Mifflin and Harrisburg. 

Westward from Altoona on thePennsyl- 
Kit.anning Point, vania Railroad is Kittanning Point, six 
Gallitzin, , _ , , 

Crcsson miles distant. No town here nor stores, 

but there are coal mines and vilages a few 
miles up the gulch and this is their nearest railroad sta- 
tion. The famous Horse Shoe Bend is here and the reser- 
voirs which contain Altoona's water supply. The road 
begins to ascend the highest mountain here and the grade 
is steep most of the way for seven miles to Bennington just 
on the county line and only a small place. An iron furnace 
used to stand here, but it has been recently torn down. 
Leaving Bennington the road passes under the apex 
of the mountain by a tunnel one mile long and the 
town of Gallitzin is reached, fourteen miles from Altoo- 
na in Cambria County and within the Mississippi Valley. 
Gallitzin has 1,000 to 1,200 inhabitants and is an im- 
portant mining town. Three miles farther west is 
Cresson, only a small place of 500 to 600 inhabitants, 
but growing. It is the location of the Cresson Springs 
Hotel, an immense hostelry owned by the Pennsylvania 
Railroad and popular as a summer resort. Two rail- 
roads branch off from here to the northward, to Coal- 
port and Ebensburg. . \ The next few stopping places 
are small mining towns, and the first place of import- 
ance is Johnstown, famous the world over for its awful 
flood horror, May 31st, 1889. Also famous as the loca- 
tion of the principal works of the Cambria Iron Com- 
pany, one of the largest iron and steel manufacturers in 
the United States. Johnstown is thirty-nine miles west 
of Altoona. .\ The other places of importance be- 
tween Altoona and Pittsburg are Blairsville Intersec- 
tion, where the West Penn and the Indiana Branches of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad diverge from the main line, 
Latrobe, Greensburg, Jeannette, Irwin and Braddock. 

Southward from Altoona the Hollidays- 
H ° Uid ^ burg ' burg and Morrisons Cove and Williams- 
Station^ South. hm S Branches of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road take one to Eldorado, three miles 
from Altoona, 200 to 300 inhabitants. . \ Duncansville 
six miles, 1,000 inhabitants. .". Hollidaysburg seven 
miles, the County seat and containing, with its sister 
borough Gaysport, 4,000 people. .\ Roaring Spring 



seventeen miles, where there are extensive paper mills 
and flouring mills. .'. Martinsburg twenty-two miles, 
in the southern part of the County and in a rich agri- 
cultural district. . - . Henrietta a small place, formerly of 
some note as the location of someof the Cambria Iron Com- 
pany's mines and quarries. From here it is but three 
miles across the mountain to the Huntingdon and Broad 
Top Railroad in Bedford County. .•. Eastward from 
Hollidaysburg the Williamsburg Branch extends some 
fifteen miles along the Frankstown branch of the Juni- 
ata past Frankstown the oldest town in the County, but 
now half deserted and fallen to decay, with but 100 to 
200 inhabitants. . \ Williamsburg, a place of 1,000 
inhabitants, noted as the birth place of a number of 
prominent citizens now of Altoona. It was formerly on 
the main line of travel between Philadelphia and 
Pittsburgh. The old Pennsylvania Canal passed that 
way, and before the locomotive's whistle had been heard 
in a dozen Pennsylvania towns, steam packets sailed 
past this then thriving burg at the rapid rate of four to 
five miles per hour. 

Northward from Altoona the Altoona, 
Wopsononock. Clearfield and Northern Railroad, start- 
ing from Juniata, climbs up the mountain 
twelve hundred feet in a distance of six miles to Wop- 
sononock, where there is a good hotel and other features 
which make it a popular summer resort. Excursion 
trains loaded with pleasure seekers leave the Juniata 
Station hourly on Sundays, during the summer, for this 
resort. A considerable amount of lumber and coal is 
brought down the mountain in the winter over this road. 
It extends several miles beyond Wopsononock but does 
not reach any town of importance, although the inten- 
tion is to continue it to Phillipsburg. 

Northwest from Altoona, starting from 
T n 3f ,i ° a Sixteenth Street and Eleventh Avenue, 

and Buckhorn. . 

long before the city was laid out, a coun- 
try road extended up what is now called Washington 
Avenue and beyond to the foot of the mountain two 
miles and then obliquely to the mountain top four miles, 
to the " Buckhorn," which is the name applied to an 
old tavern at the summit of the mountain. This was 
the old Dry Gap Road and is still so called. From the 
Buckhorn it begins to descend the mountain and four 
miles further Ashville in Cambria County is reached. 
The Blair Count}' line is at the summit of the Allegheny 
mountains, a few hundred yards east of the Buckhorn. 




HISTORY ALTOONA X 




■ 




N EXPOSITION of the present status of a 
city leads naturally to inquiry regarding- its 
history and growth. This inquiry we shall 
meet and endeavor to satisfy in the following- historical 
sketch : 

The decade between 1850 and 1860 was a most eventful 
one in the history of- the United States. It witnessed the 
opening- era of successful and g-eneral railroad building 
and the culmination of the causes which led up to the great 
civil war. At the commencement of this ten year period 
Altoona had her birth, at its close she was a flourishing 
Boroug-h of 3,500 inhabitants, standing- where before 
was only forest, sterile fields and one poor farm house. 
The 224 acres of farm and wood land, on which the 
original Altoona was built and which is now principally 
included between Eleventh and Sixteenth Streets and 
Fourth and Fourteenth Avenues, constituted the farm 
of David Robeson and was not worth more than $2,500 
for farming purposes at that time, but the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company, then pushing to completion their all- 
rail route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and looking 
for a site for their shops wanted it and therefore Mr. 
Robeson, by a fortunate early discovery of the fact, was 
able to obtain his own price for it. 

Archibald Wright, of Philadelphia, acting presuma- 
bly for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company though just 
what relation he sustained to it is not clear, purchased 
the Robeson farm of 223 acres and 123 perches for 
$11,000. The deed was dated April 24th, 1849, and is 
recorded at Hollidaysburg in Deed Book, Vol. "B," page 
441. The boundaries of the farm were about on the 
present lines of Eleventh Street from Fourth to Four- 
teenth Avenues on the northeast and Sixteenth Street 
: between same Avenues on the southwest, Fourth Avenue 
from Eleventh to Sixteenth Streets on the southeast and 
Fourteenth Avenue between the same Streets on the 
northwest. On this tract of land original Altoona was 
.laid out during the latter part of theyear 1849, and the 
plot, as laid out, was acknowledged by Archibald Wright, 
in Philadelphia, February 6th, 1S50, but was not re- 
corded until February 10th, 1854, at the time the young 
town was being organized into a Borough. This origi- 
nal plot is on record now in Hollidaysburg in Deed Book, 
Vol. " E." page 167. It is on parchment and the origi- 
nal is pasted into the book. At the same time another 
plot, almost an exact counterpart, was recorded as the 
" official " plot of the Borough. On these early plots the 
streets and avenues have names instead of numbers. 
• (See article on streets). 

Altoona in this plot is described as lying in " Tuck- 
ahoe Valley," that being the name applied to this upper 
end of Logan Valley, which extends to Tyrone. Ad- 



joining the Altoona plot at that time was the John Mc- 
Cartney farm on the northwest, the McCormick and 
Andrew Green farms on the northeast, the William Bell 
farm on the southeast and the William Loudon farm on 
the southwest. The Loudon and Green farms were 
soon after plotted and offered for sale in buildings lots, 
and later all the McCartney and most of the Bell farms 
have gone the same way. At the time of the founding 
of Altoona the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was a 
young corporation, their charter having only been 
granted in 1846, and they had not yet completed their 
road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, although it was 
surveyed and in process of construction. It was com- 
pleted to Altoona from the east, single track, on the 
same line as now in 1850 and extended from here to Y 
Switches near Duncansville and one mile from Holli- 
daysburg, and from there trains ran over the Allegheny 
mountains on the old Portage Railroad, a state institu- 
tion completed in 1833. The Altoona Passenger Station 
stood near the corner of Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street 
until 1854, when the Pittsburg Division of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad was completed past Kittanning Point on 
its present line and a new depot was built at the present 
location. The first depot on the corner of Thirteenth 
Street and Tenth Avenue was a 1wo-story brick building 
and was replaced by the present structure in 1887. The 
Logan House was built in 1854-5 by the Railroad Com- 
panj% but did not extend back to Eleventh Avenue as 
now although it was an immense affair and, at that time, 
greatly out of proportion to the little village in which 
it stood. 

The two lines of the railroad west from the cit} r , the 
one completed and the other being' graded, diverging as 
they did then is accountable for the peculiar wedge shape 
of the site of the Company's first shops, and the fact 
that the Avenues on the northwest and southeast sides 
of the railroad are not parallel but diverge at an angle 
of about thirty degrees from Eleventh Street westward. 
No lots were sold in the new town until 1851, and the 
first deed made, as the records at Hollidaysburg show, 
was February 11th, 1851, for two lots on the corner of 
Twelfth Avenue and Thirteenth Street to the First 
Presbyterian Church, price $100 for the two. If any 
earlier deeds were made they were not recorded. 

The first residence in Altoona was of course the old 
Robeson farm house which was of logs and stood within 
the square bounded by Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and 
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets. The first building 
erected after Altoona was laid out was a rough board 
one to be used as an office for the railroad contractor and 
a boarding house for the men; it also stood in the square 
last mentioned, near the old farm house. 



G. A. Glunt 



. 



DEALER IN 



Groceries and Provisions, 

DRY GOODS, INOT101NS, CARPETS, SHOES, 

And all other Goods usually kept in a well-supplied General Store. 



f4o. 900 Chestnut Avenue, 

ALTOONA, PENN'A. 

Grand Union Tea Co. 

Tea and Coffee, 



HEADQUARTERS: 
79-81-83 Front Street, New York. 



1110 Eleventh Ave. 



AND 

DRESSED 

LUMBER. 



SDrtM BUCHER, Manufacturer 

of 

PLAIN 

and 
FANCY 



I- Contractor § Builder 



OFFICE. MILL and YARD, 



COK. SEVENTH AVE. and FOURTH ST. 



WOOD 




We Haim 



WALL PAPER. It isn't al 
in the paste; there's lots in the 
laste displayed by the skillful 
Wall Decorator. Let us show 
you some of our newest ideas in 
hon:e beautifying-, by means of 
carefully selected Wall Paper- 
While others put up the prices, 
we take down the prices and put 
up more Wall Paper. 



M, GRIFFITH, 



House, Sign' and 
Decorative 



m*r-~» rAINTER... 

No. 904 ELEVENTH AVE 



D. J. NEFF. 



J. D. HICKS, 



CHARLES GEESEY. 




FiacDmss 4, 5 and Q, Phoenix BlocJ^, = ALTOONA, PA. 

Solicitors for the Pennsylvania, Peoples', Fidelity and Mutual Building and Loan Associations. 
MONEY TO LOAN CONSTANTLY ON HAND. PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO COLLECTIONS 



Mountain City Brewery, 

WmblMJVI H- BEfJDER, Prop. 



Lager Beer 



SLE. . . 

§ PORTER 



1419 Fourth Avenue, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



W 



HEN YOU COME for to go for to see for to hear for to 

listen for to look for— 
OH, SAY ! When you come forto go for to see for to hear 
for to listen for to look out for to find out where to get a 
Good Cigar or Piece of Tobacco, 
call at 904' 2 Eleventh Avenue. 



Agent for sale of Crandall's Typewriter. 



D.T. KANTNER. 



— DEALER IN — 

General Merchandise 

1305 and 1307 FOURTH STREET. 



R, K, Spicer & Co, 

Embalihers i Funeral Directors 

OFFICE, 1023 CHESTNUT AVENUE, 

(Calvert Block) 

Prompt Attention Given to Day and Night Calls at Office. 

TELEPHONE 942. ALTOONA, PA. 






2£ ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 



X 



13 



Beginning- in 1S51 lots sold rapidly and building's 
"went up on every side; the new town grew so fast that 
•early in 1854, when but little over three years old it was 
incorporated as a Borough with a population of about 
2,000 people. Churches and schools were built, hotels, 
stores and a bank were opened, a newspaper was started 
in 1855, and everything- prospered from the very start. 
A plot laid out by Andrew Green, northeast of Eleventh 
Street and called Greensburg, was taken into the Bor- 
ough irf 1855. 

In 1859 a Gas and Water Company was formed by 
private parties and they constructed a storage reservoir 
•on'the hill at the corner of Twelfth Street and Fifteenth 
Avenue and piped water to it from Pottsgrove; laid 



throve. After the war closed the citizens erected a 
handsome monument in Fairview cemetery to cotn- 
memerate her fallen heroes. 

The city charter was procured in February, 1868, 
the bounds being extended so as to take in the terri- 
tory northeast to First Street, southeast to First Avenue, 
southwest to Twenty-seventh Street and northwest to 
Eighteenth Avenue, with a population exceeding 8,000. 
In 1870 the census takers found 10,610 people here. In 
1870 a daily paper, the Sun, made its appearance. 
In 1S6S a market house was built at the corner of Elev- 
enth Avenue and Eleventh Street, later converted into 
an opera house. By this time there were three news- 
papers here, two banks, thirteen churches, a number of 




Fourth Ward School House and High School Building, corner of Seventh Avenue and Fifteenth Street. 

Looking Northeast. 



-mains in the principal streets to carry water to the con- 
sumers. The}' also erected gas works on Eleventh 
Avenue below Ninth Street. Water and gas were sup- 
plied by this company first on December 15th of that 
year. Simultaneously with the water works came the 
organization of fire companies and a fire engine was pur- 
chased, the first being a hand engine. 

The census of 1860 showed the borough's population 
i:o be 3,591. Then came the great Rebellion and Altoona 
was a place of ^considerable importance, furnishing cars 
and engines to transport soldiers and munitions of war, 
as well as her full quota of men to defend the Union. 
All through that four years' period Altoona grew and 



good hotels, a large machine shop and car works, addi- 
tional to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's plant, 
and soon after (1872) a rolling mill was erected. The 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company was also obliged to en- 
large their works at this time (.1869-70), and, the origi- 
nal grounds reserved being completely occupied with 
shops, tracks, switches, etc., a larger tract of land was 
purchased along Chestnut Avenue below Seventh Street 
and the car shops were erected at First to Fourth Streets. 
In 1872 the city purchased from the Gas and Water 
Company their water pipes and water franchise and pro- 
ceeded to build a reservoir at Kittanning Point and lay 
a 12-iuch pipe from there to the storage reservoir con- 



14 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. A 



structed on First Avenue between Twelfth and Thir- 
teenth Streets. About the same time Eleventh and 
Eighth Avenues were macadamized, some sewers con- 
structed, and the city issued its first bonds, $200,000 in 
1S71 ami $150,000 in 187.1, to meet the large expendi- 
tures thus incurred. 

The vears 1870, 1871 and 1872 were fruitful of many 
new enterprises in Altoona; new businesses were estab- 
lished, new churches built, several building- and loan 
associations organized, two new banks opened, the roll- 
ing mill built, etc., but the panic of 1873, together with 
the failure of the largest. banking firm of the city, in 
that year, put a damper on many business ventures and 
retarded the city's growth somewhat, as did also the 
great strike and railroad riots of 1877. Yet in 1880 the 
official government census showed that the place had 
nearly doubled in the preceeding decade, 19,710 people 
being found resident here. In 1878 a par-k and Fair 
ground was enclosed at Broad and Twenty-seventh 
Streets and the Blair County Agricultural Society held a 
fair there which was a great success. But the next year 
failing to get the State Fair to exhibit here none what- 
ever was held and in 1880, the weather being unfavora- 
ble, the fair was a failure and the Fair ground was never 
used for such purposes again. It has since been sold out 
in lots and thickly built upon and the Agricultural So- 
ciety now hold their fairs at Hollidaysburg. This is 
the only enterprise that ever failed in Altoona perman- 
ently. 

InJulvof 1877 occurred the greatest railroad strike 
in the history of this country, Pittsburg being the cen- 
tral point where several million dollars worth of rail- 
road property and merchandise in transit was destroyed, 
along with a score or more of human lives. The Al- 
toona shopmen did not join in this strike, but some of 
the trainmen, resident here, were drawn into it. Meet- 
ings of citizens and shopmen were held here and while 
it is likely many workmen sympathized with the move- 
ment there was no one sufficiently courageous to assume 
the leadership, and the wiser counsel of peace-loving 
citizens prevailed. However the shops were closed for 
more than a week by the company^ and great excitement 
prevailed. Many soldiers were here enroute to and from 
Pittsburg, and on one occasion they were made use of to 
clear the depot of the crowd, which they did at the point 
of the baj'onet; no one was hurt and the crowd was 
quickly dispersed. The cause of the strike was an order 
from the railroad management doubling the number of 
cars to a freight train and adding a second locomotive, 
without increasing the number of brakemen or their 
wages. Prior to this a freight train had consisted of but 
eighteen loaded cars drawn by one engine and manned 
by a crew of three brakemen and a conductor; thence- 
forth it was to be thirty-six cars, two engines and no 
additional brakemen. The brakemen thought they were 
to be enslaved and struck against the innovation and 
public sentiment sustained them until the strike resulted 
in arson and bloodshed. It is needless to say that the 
company won and no protest is now made as to the num- 



ber of cars in a train, which is frequently forty to sixty 
loaded or seventy to ninety empty ones. Previous 
to this strike the shops, yards and tracks were unen- 
closed, but shortly afterwards fences were erected and 
now only employes or persons with a special permit are 
allowed within the enclosures. 

In 1882 the first street railway was completed and. 
opened for traffic (July 4). In 1880 a telephone exchange 
was located here, in 1886 an electric light company and. 
July 4th, 1891, electricity was made the propelling 
power for the street cars, so at this date Altoona was 
fully abreast of the times in the use of electricity for 
all purposes. 

In 1888 the need of a complete and comprehensive 
sewer system was fully realized and the work of pro- 
viding for it begun. Since that time the four natural 
drainage areas of the city have been supplied with large 
main sewers, and now it is believed no better sewered 
city can be found in the State, although the work of 
laj'ing smaller branches and feeders has not yet been, 
completed. 

In 18S8-9 a large silk mill was erected on Ninth 
Avenue at Twenty-fifth Street along- the Hollidaysburg 
Branch Railroad, and during the same years several 
large business blocks were built in the heart of the city, 
the Masonic Temple, Phoenix Block, etc. 

In 1889, it having become apparent that the macada- 
mized streets were not suitable for a city of Altoona's 
size and importance, Eleventh Avenue was finely paved 
with asphalt blocks between Eleventh and Seventeenth 
Streets, and during the sama and following- years manv 
other avenues were so paved, asphalt and vitrified brick- 
being used on some of tnem, so at this time (close of 
1895) the city streets are well paved in the best business- 
sections and the work of paving additional streets and 
avenues is going steadily on. 

In 1889-90 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was. 
again obliged to enlarge their plant and they purchased 
a large tract of land at Juniata, below the car shops, on 
which they erected extensive locomotive works. About 
the same time a new railroad was projected and com- 
pleted to Wopsononock, a beautiful pleasure resort, six. 
miles north of Altoona and later extended to the coal 
fields of Cambria County; Clearfield and the north being 
its ultimate destination. 

In 1893 a new Electric Passenger Railway Company 
was organized, " The Altoona and Logan Valley," and 
constructed electric roads to Hollidaysburg six miles 
southeast and to Bellwood seven miles northeast, thus- 
furnishing convenient and cheap transportation to the 
county seat and other nearby towns. At the same time 
the same company constructed a beautiful park, lake and 
picnic grounds at Lakemont, midway between Altoona 
and Hollidaysburg, furnishing a place of recreation and 
amusement of incalculable benefit to the residents of 
the city and providing an additional source of profit to 
the road. May 1st, 1895, a Paid Fire Department super- 
seded the volunteers in the work of protecting the city 
from the ravag-es of fire. 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



15 



Thus briefly do we trace the histor}' of Altoona for 
forty-five years and find it now, at the close of 1895, one 
of the most important cities in the State. Its present 
population, as found by a careful census made by the 
directory canvassers, in May 1895 was 35,600 within the 
corporate limits and 6,630 just beyond, but so closely 
contiguous that only a short time is likely to elapse ere 
the lines will be extended to include all; and the census of 
1900 will, without doubt, show 50,000 inhabitants in Al- 
toona. For rapid nnd substantial growth Altoona has had 
no parallel in the history of Pennsylvania and few indeed 
in the United States. Oil City and Bradford, of the oil 
regions, her only competitors, grew to several thousands 
in a shorter time, but the growth was not substantial, 
the buildings erected were frail and transient as the bus- 
iness which called them into being, in a few years they 
largely disappeared, and these cities now have less than 
a fourth of Altoona's population. But the building of 
Altoona has been substantial, her growth healthy and 
she has every prospect of soon taking rank as the third 
city in the State. Hitherto large cities have seemed to 
demand a location on lake, ocean or a navigable river, but 
these factors are of infinitely less value now than form- 
erly and since the science of railroad building and operat. 
ing has attained its present status; is early destined to 
still greater perfection, and the forces of nature, espe- 



cially electricity, are coming into such general use for 
all purposes. Transportation is no longer a problem, the 
genius of man moves mountains, brings the world to 
Altoona and the advantages of freedom from Hoods, 
devastating storms and poisonous malaria in the at- 
mosphere, which Altoona can claim, coupled with pure 
and sweet water sufficient for all practical purposes, 
over balance every other imaginary disadvantage. Al- 
toona will increase steadily in population because it is 
a pleasant and healthy place to live. No tornado will 
ever demolished its buildings while the Allegheny 
mountains stand as they do now to shelter and protect; 
no overflowing stream will ever inundate the low ground; 
and in case of wars, which may come, a city far inland 
is a more desirable residence place than one on the coast 
or navigable waters. No invading army would under- 
take to capture Altoona in her mountain fastness if de- 
fended by a force one-fourth as great. All the adjuncts 
of the highest civilization are here and improvements 
are being made daily. From the impetus she already 
has it would be impossible for Altoona to cease growing 
before her present population is doubled. The follow- 
ing pages will treat in a more detailed and connected 
manner the different branches of the subjects which 
have been here briefly touched, or which were purposely 
left to a subsequent section. 



POPULATION, 



X 




HE POPULATION of Altoona has previously 
been referred to and given in round numbers 
as 44,000, which is believed to be as nearly 
correct as it can be told without a new count, as the num- 
ber is increasing daily. This of course includes the 
suburbs. A careful census taken by the directory can- 
vassers in May 1895 made the population of the different 
wards and suburbs as follows : 

First Ward 3,806 

Second Ward 4,978 

Third Ward 3,346 

Fourth Ward 3,557 

Fifth Ward 5,406 

Sixth Ward 5,638 

Seventh Ward 2,685 

Eighth Ward 6,186 

Total within city limits 35,602 

SUBURBS. 

Fairview and adjacent to First Ward 928 

Adjacent to Second Ward 183 

Oakton and adjacent to Third Ward 467 

Collinsville and adjacent to Fourth Ward 193 

Newburg, Millertown vicinity 923 

Millville, Allegheny and Westmont 1,117— 3,811 



Carried Forward 3,811 

Rolling Mill, Sixth Ward Suburbs aud Allegheny 

Furnace 507 

Seventh Ward Suburbs to Juniata 30 

Juniata from Wopsononock Depot to Blair Furtiace 1,418 
Eighth Ward Suburbs, Pottsgrove, East End and 

Greenwood 867— 2,822 

Total Suburban which ought to be taken into the city 6,633 

Grand total, the real Altoona 42,235 

Since the foregoing census over 200 new houses have 
been erected and occupied within the territory embraced. 
The steady growth of Altoona within city limits is 
shown from the Government Census as follows : 

Population in 1860 (the first after it was founded) 3,591 

Population in 1870 10,610 

Population in 1880 19,710 

Population in 1890 30,260 

The total population of Blair County 1390 was 70,- 
866, and now it cannot be less than 80,000. Population 
of the State of Pennsylvania 5,258,014. Only nineteen 
counties in the State have a population equalling or ex- 
ceeding that of Blair. 



3UGJ1' J 






HHHI 



jGs^mmmEimmamsmm[im[i[S[imm[i3[i[im[;-:i] 



J3C Assessed Valuation of Altoona, 2£ 

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm^m^mmmmmmm. 

Gjfjj;. "..',! '..!'. ."J.?..!L"Ji..'..l! .i.l ; .iJ!.LlciL^LdLLiiJjLduiiL^ 



ssaiKssOasttssciis 



f^^ffi ALUATION of anyplace as shown by the 
^k/^ ro " oi ves ljut :l ver - v imperfect idea of its 
fd£ssl» real wealth, vet it forms a basis for fair esti- 
mates. One portion of our wealth is not taxed and 
can therefore only be g-uessed at; this consists of the stock 
of g-oods in shops and stores, furniture and fixtures which 
do not g-o with the real estate ; this probably amounts 
to more than S5,000,0n0 in Altoona. 

The assessed valuation of Altoona, on which tax was 
laid for State and County purposes, for six years past was 

In 1890 $12,276,777 

1891 12,967,703 

1892 13,881,309 

1893 14,503.287 

1894 14,909,415 

1895 15,458,376 



The Relative Wealth of the Wads as Shown in 1895. 

First Ward ascessed at $ 2,343,240 

Second Ward a -sensed at ... 1,720,585 

Third Ward assessed a1 2,468,291 

Fourth Ward assessed at 2,261 ,485 

Fifth Ward assessed at 2,026,005 

Sixth Ward assessed at 1,742,065 

Seventh Ward assessed at 1,127,130 

Eighth Ward assessed at 1,769,575 

Total $15,458,376 

The valuation of the entire county in 1895 was $31,- 
252,097, from which it will be seen that Altoona City 
proper pays almost one-half the County tax and if the 
city limits were extended, so as to take in the suburbs 
which should be included, her valuation would be con- 
siderably more than one-half that of the entire county. 



CHAPTER OF DATES AND FIRSTS, 




HE FIRST permanent white settlements of 
any account in the immediate vicinity of Al- 
toona were made about the year 1810, although 
Thomas' and Michael Coleman are said to have settled 
in Logan Township as early as 1775, and Hugh and 
John Long- to have resided in Pleasant Valley in 1788. 

Altoona was projected in 1849 and laid out in town 
lots by Archibald Wright, of Philadelphia, the same 
year, but he sold no lots until 1851. 

The deed of the land from David Robeson to Archi- 
bald Wright is dated April 24th, 1849. 

The plot of Altoona was acknowledged by Mr. 
Wright, before an Alderman in Philadelphia, February 
6th, 1850. 

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company began building- 
their shops here in 1850 it is said, although the deed 
for the ground on which they stood was not made by 
Mr. Wright until August 6th, 1851. 

The first lots sold by Archibald Wrigdit, after he had 
plotted the town, were two on the corner of Twelfth 
Avenue and Thirteenth Street to the Trustees of the 
First Presbyterian Church, for the price of one hundred 
dollars, the deed being dated February 11th, 1851. 

The first house was erected in Altoona in 1851 on 
Tenth Avenue between Thirteenth and Fourteenth 
Streets. John B. Westley the carpenter and contractor 
is still living- in the citv- 



The first train of cars came into Altoona in 1850 
from the east, and September 17th, 1850, cars ran throug-h 
to Duncaiisville and December loth, 1850, to Pittsburg-; 
crossing- the mountains over the Alleg-heny Portage 
which belonged to the State. The Hollidaysburg- Branch 
was then the main line. 

The Mountain Division, from Altoona west, via 
Kittanning- Point was not completed until 1854. The 
line was orig-inally a single track. 

The first passeng-er station was a frame building- and 
stood on Ninth Avenue between Twelfth and Thirteenth 
Streets. It was moved to the corner of Twelfth Street 
and used for a fire engine house. The second floor is 
now Logan Hall. 

The first President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
with whom Altoona had any concern, was J. Edgar 
Thompson. 

The first postoffice in this vicinity was at Collinsville, 
from 1S17 to 1851; during- the latter year it was re- 
moved from there and established under the new name 
at Altoona. 

Altoona was organized as a borougfh February, 1854. 

The first Burgess of Altoona was George W. Patton. 

Altoona became a city in February 1868. 

The first Mayor of the city was Georg-e Potts. 

The first stores in Altoona were those of Bernard 
Kerr, father of R. A. O. Kerr, Loudon & Free and Ad- 
lum & Irwin. Mr. Kerr kept the first one in the old 
log farm house of David Robeson. 



■r** -rX- 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 2£ 2£ 



17 



The first druggist was George W. Kesslcr; he began 
business in Altoona in 1853. 

The first doctor was Gabriel D. Thomas, who re- 
sided in Pleasant Valley prior to the founding- of Altoo- 
na, and who built one among the first residences in the 
new town. 

The first lawyer was William Stoke it is said, but he 
had no office here, and only came to transact some bus- 
iness for the P. R. R., whose attorney he was. L. W. 
Hall, Esq., now of Harrisburg, was located here in 1855, 
and Col. D. J. Neff in 1860. 

The first preacher, to reside in Altoona, was Rev. 
Henry Baker, who was pastor of the Lutheran Church 
at Collinsville prior to the beginning- of Altoona, and 
who came here with his congregation during the second 
year of its history. 



union church and school house combined stood on the 
present corner of Sixteenth Street and Union Avenue, 
just outside the early limits of Altoona. It was built 
during the year 1838 by the school directors of the town- 
ship in conjunction with the Lutheran, Presbyterian and 
Methodist denominations and served the double purpose 
of church and school house until the erection of churches 
and schools in Altoona. It is now used as a church by 
the African Methodist Episcopal congregation. 

The first city superintendent of schools was John 
Miller. 

The first church building erected in the new town of 
Altoona was the First Presbyterian on the corner of 
Twelfth Avenue and Thirteenth Street in 1851. A min- 
ister from Hollidaysburg preached here every alternate 





Eleventh Avenue from Eleventh Street, Looking Southwest Toward Seventeenth Sfreet, 



The first public house in the vicinity was a tavern, 
where the White Hall Hotel now stands; it was built by 
George Huff about the year 1834. 

The first hotel erected in Altoona was the Exchange, 
which stood on Tenth Avenue between Thirteenth and 
Fourteenth Streets where the Arlington now stands. It 
was kept by John Bowman. Among the earlier hotels 
was the Altoona House, where the Globe now stands; it 
was a frame building and burned down about the year 
1867. 

The first school house erected by the borough was 
built in 1854 on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 
Fifteenth Street. Prior to the founding of Altoona a 



Sunday beginning in November, 1851. It was a fair 
sized frame building and was destroyed by fire in 1855. 
The Trustees disposed of the ground December 3d, 1855, 
for $3,000, and it is now occupied by the residence of 
the late William Murray. The congregation built on 
their present location in 1854. 

The first bank established in Altoona was that of 
Bell, Johnson, Jack & Co. in 1853. It was later operated 
by William M. Lloyd & Co. until their failure in 1873. 

The first newspaper here, a weekly, was the Altoona 
Register, published for a short time by William H. and 
J. A. Snyder, in the spring of 1S55. It did not survive 
the early frosts of that year, and after its suspension 



1). FERGUSON & SON, 



DEALERS IN 



Choice ' Family ' Groceries, 

PROVISIONS, FLOUR, FEED, . . . 

. . . BOOTS, SHOES, ETC. 

Nos. 818 and 820 Eleventh Ave., ALTOONA, PA. 

General * Insurance * Agent. 

1107 ELiEVEflTH AVE. 



C. E. McELDOWNEY & CO. 

Fancy 88 Staple Groceries 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN SEASON. 

Live and Dressed Poultry always on hand. Goods delivered to 

all parts of the city. Give us a call. 
1180 TWELFTH STREET, - ALTOONA, PA. 

A. K. LACKEY & CO. 

China, Glass and Queensware, Chandeliers, Lamps, 

SIDE BRACKETS, LOOKING GLASSES, TABLE 

CUTLERY, SILVER PLATED GOODS, 

. . ETC., ETC. . . 

G. S, Lackey, Supt. City Glass and Queensware Store. 



W. M. C. CRAINE, 

DEALER IN 

*Drugs, : Medicines, : Chemicals,^ 



FINE TOILET SOSPS, BRUSHES, COMBS, ETC. 

Perfumery and Fancy Toilet Articles in Great Variety, Physicians' Prescriptions Accurately Compounded. 

CORNER CHESTNUT AVE. AND FOURTH ST., ALTOONA, PA. 

TELEPHONE CONNECTION. 



KEYSTONE CLOTHING CO. 



DEALERS 



Men's and Boy's Ready-Made Clothing, Gents' Furnishings, 

TRUNKS, VSU1SES, ETC. 



Suits and ^liivtss Blado to Oi-ilev. 



1121 ELEVENTH AVE., CHECKERED FRONT. 

E. H. MURRAY, Manager. 

J. P. DEGENHARDT, 

Manufacturer of and Dealer in 

^-Hardware, Stoves, Tin and Sheet Iron Work,* 

CELLAR HEATERS, 

Spouting, Roofing and Repairing Promptly Executed. 

COR. SEVENTH AVE. and SEVENTH ST.. ALTOONA, PA. 



J. E. WAliLiACE, 

CASH x GROCER, 

ON PROFIT SH5RING PLSN. 
Eighth Ave. and Fourteenth St., - ALTOOINA, PA. 

Do You Know That the Only Place in the City to Buy 

GOOD ^HOES 

At Low Prices, is at 

GEORGE p. STREIT'S, 

NO. 1122 ELEVENTH AVENUE, 
18 ALTOONA, PA. 



2C 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X 



19 



was succeeded by the Tribune, January 1st, 1856, Mc- 
Crum & Allison, proprietors. 

The daily edition of the Tribune was first issued 
April 14, 1873. It was suspended April 14, 1875, and 
resumed January 28, 1878, since which time it has 
appeared regularly. The weekly has been published 
continuousl}' since its establishment, January 1, 1856. 

The first daily newspaper published in Altoona was 
the Sun, which began a daily issue May 2d, 1870, and 
suspended after seven months. 

The Mirror was first issued June 13, 1874; the Times 
May 21, 1884, and the Gazette April 5, 1892. 

The first water works in Altoona was owned and 
operated by the Altoona Gas and Water Company, a 
private corporation, which began to supplj' the borough 
with water December 15, 1859. 



A paid fire department superseded the volunteers 
May 1st, 1895. 

The soldiers' monument in Fairview cemetery was 
erected July 4th, 1867. 

The first city directory of Altoona was issued in 1873 
by Thomas H. Greevy, Esq. Since 1886 they have been 
published biennially by Charles B. Clark, Esq. 

A county directory was published in 1892. 

The first street improvements were the macadamizing 
of Eleventh and Eighth Avenues in 1871-2. 

The first good street paving was laid on Eleventh 
Avenue, asphalt blocks, between Eleventh and Bridge 
Streets. 

The first extensive and systematic sewer building was 
begun in 1888; although the first sewer, Eleventh Avenue 




Pennsylvania Railroad from Seventh Street Bridge, Looking Northeast s Part of Car Shops Yard at the Left. 



The first gas for illuminating purposes was furnished 
by the same company, beginning at the same time; rate 
per 1,000 feet then $3.00, now $1.20. 

The water works were purchased by the city in 1872 
and the first reservoir at Kittanning Point constructed 
soon after. 

The first fire company, the Good Will, was organ- 
ized in 1859, just prior to the completion of the water 
works. 

The first fire engine, a hand machine, was housed 
here October 22d, 1859. 

The first steam fire engine in Altoona was purchased 
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and brought 
here in 1867- 



between Thirteenth and Fifteenth Streets, was con- 
structed in 1870. D. K. Ramey, contractor. 

The first street railway began carrying passengers 
July 4th, 1882; the line extending from First Street and 
Chestnut Avenue along Chestnut Avenue to Eleventh 
Street, along Eleventh Street to Eleventh Avenue, 
along Eleventh Avenue to Bridge Street, along Bridge 
and Seventeenth Streets to Eighth Avenue and down 
Eighth Avenue to Fourth Street. Motive power — 
horses and mules; equipment — six small cars. 

Electricity was first used here to propel street cars 
July 4th, 1891. Logan Valley Electric Passenger Rail- 
way was completed and passengers carried to Hollidavs- 
burg, June 14, 1893, and to Bellwood, July 1, 1894. - 



20 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



Telephone service in Altoona began in March, 1SS0. 

Electricity for Illuminating in 1886. Streets lighted 
by electricity in 1888. For live years prior to that they 
were lighted by gasoline lamps, although illuminating 
gas had been used at a still earlier period. 

The first planing mill, except that of the P. R. R., 
was built prior to 1860 by McCauley & Allison, on the 
corner of Green avenue and Eighth street. It burned 
and was rebuilt about 1S60, and again burned down and 
was rebuilt during the war, the present mill of D. K. 
Ramev being the third one there. 

The most extensive fire, which had occurred in Al- 
toona prior to 1896, was April 15th, 1869, burning about 
half the square enclosed by Eleventh and Twelfth 



Avenues and Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets; it be- 
gan on corner of Eleventh Avenue and Fourteenth 
Street; loss $60,000 to $70,000; but on January 5th, 1S96, 
a tire at the corner Eleventh Avenue and Eleventh, 
Street destroyed the Central Hotel and other property to- 
the value of $125,000. 

The Altoona Car Works, later the Altoona Foundry 
& Machine Co.'s, works were established in 1868. 

The Rolling Mill began operations in 1872. 
The Silk Mill was built in 1888-9 and began oper- 
ating in the spring of 1889. 

The Altoona, Clearfield and Northern Railroad, iorm] 
erly Altoona and Wopsononock was built in 1890-91. 



ORIGINAL NAMES OF STREETS IN ALTOONA, 




HEN ALTOONA was laid out by Archibald 
Wright in 1S50 all the public thoroughfares 
were called streets and were given names as 
follows : 

Fourth Avenue, the street farthest to the southeast, 
was called Elizabeth Street. 

Fifth Avenue was called Rebecca Street 

Sixth Avenue was called Helen Street. 

Seventh Avenue was called Adeline Street. 

Eighth Avenue was called Harriet Street. 

Ninth Avenue was called Branch street. 

Tenth Avenue was called Main Street. 

Eleventh Avenue was called Virginia Street. 

Twelfth Avenue was called Emma Street. 

Thirteenth Avenue was called Claudia Street. 

Fourteenth Avenue was called Mary Street. 

These only extended from Eleventh to Sixteenth 
Street at that time. 

Eleventh Street was Katharine Street. 

Twelfth Street was Annie Street. 

Thirteenth Street was Julia Street. 

Fourteenth Street was Caroline Street. 

Fifteenth Street was Clara Street. 

Sixteenth Street was called Agnes Street, but was 
only laid out from Elizabeth (Fourth Avenue) to Ade- 
line Street (Seventh Avenue) where itmerged with Clara 
Street, now Fifteenth; this being the north-western 
boundary of the new town. These last named streets 
only extended from Elizabeth Street, now Fourth Ave- 
nue, to Mary Street, now Fourteenth Avenue. 

The official borough plot had the same names of 
streets excepting that Tenth Avenue was there desig- 
nated as Railroad Street. 



Some years afterward, when the city had grown con- 
siderabl}- larger and additional streets were laid out, a 
new set of names seems to have been adopted for some 
of the old streets as a map published by a Philadelphia 
firm in 1870 and bearing that date on its face, gives the 
following names of streets and avenues. On this map: 

Third Avenue is. called Sarah Street. 

Fourth Avenue is called Elizabeth Street, (as at. 
first.) 

Fifth Avenue is called High Street between Fourth 
and Sixteenth Streets and Rebecca Street west of Six- 
teenth Street. 

Sixth Avenue is called Mulberry Street from Fourth 
to Sixteenth Street and Helen southwest of Sixteenth 
Street. 

.Seventh Avenue is called Washington Street from 
Fourth to Sixteenth Street and Adeline, west of the 
latter. 

Eighth Avenue is called Pine Street from Fourth to 
Sixteenth Street and Harriet southwest of the latter. 

Ninth Avenue retained its original name of Branch 
Street its entire length. 

Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Avenues 
retained their original names — Main, Virginia, Em- 
ma, and Claudia — while Fourteenth Avenue, although 
shown, was left without a name. 

Green, Chestnut, Lexington and Howard Avenues 
were shown on this map as we have them now, except 
that Chestnut was called Lombaerdt northeast of Seventh 
Street. 

Fourth Street was called Hester street. 

Fifth Street was called Spruce Street. 

Sixth Street was called Bald Eagle Street, 

Seventh Street was called Logan Street, 

Eighth Street was called Lombaerdt Street. 






ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X 2i 



21 



Ninth Street was called Allegheny Street. 

Tenth Street was called Grant Street. 

Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and 
Fifteenth Streets retained their original names of Kath- 
rine, Annie, Julia, Caroline aria Clara, respectivelj'. 

Sixteenth Street was called Loudon Street. 

Seventeenth Street and all the other streets to the 
Southwest to Twenty-seventh were shown on this map, 
and given their numerical names as now. 

At this date the town had grown in all directions 
and contained six Wards. The present Seventh Ward 



city in 1S93, It was commonly called the Plank Road 
until very recently. 

The part of Lexington Avenue in the Seventh Ward 
was called Chestnut Street until some time about 1884, 
and the part of Chestnut Avenue below Seventh Street 
was Lombaerdt. Council changed this by abolishing the 
name Lombaerdt and calling it Chestnut its entire 
length, and extending the name of Lexington from 
Seventh Street to city limits northeast. 

Howard Avenue in Seventh Ward was called Hickory 
Street. 




Eleventh Avenue from Fourteenth Street, Looking East to Eleventh Street. 



•was included in the First, and the Eighth with the 
Second. No lots or blocks were shown below Fourth 
Street on the east side of the railroad, nor southeast of 
Third Avenue on that side of the city: 

Washington Avenue was known as Dry Gap Road 
until about 1890. 

Broad Avenue was universally known as Broad 
street until about 1S93., 

Union Avenue is the line of the old plank road from 
Altoona to Hollidaysburg. Later it was changed to a 
pike road, and was only condemned and taken by the 



First, Second and Third Streets in Seventh Ward 
were originally called, respectively, Louisa, Mary and 
Margaret. Fourth Street being named Hester as before 
stated. 

The names first given to the streets and avenues 
were usually those of the former owners of the ground 
or their wives or daughters. Hester Mary Pike and 
Margaret Bell Mowery owned the ground on which the 
town of Logan, now Seventh Ward of Altoona was laid 
out in 1853 and 1854. 



(Efjc Clltoona Crtbunc. 



DSILY HND WEEKLY, 



n6 Dldfl't 1x63(1 thC Xribline ■ At Hollidaysburg recently, a man who reads another Altoona Paper, a "cheaper" one, didn't know the 
case in which lie was interested was coming up for trial at the Session of Court, and it LOSl 111(11 Ipl ,"UUi The Tribune always publishes the 
Trial Lists and everything that happens here and elsewhere, giving nil tll6 NEWS 01 the WOrlQi It is a little more expensive than some 
other papers, but there is more money and brains expendei on a single issue of the Tribune than on a week's numbers of the cheaper papers. It is. 
also The Best Advertising Medium. .;. .;, .;. .j. .;. * .;. .> .;. .;. * * .;. * .;. .;. * .;. .;. .;. .}. .;. .5. .... .;„ +. 



* 



Subscribe Now. 

Daily, 50c. a Month, 

$5.00 per Year in 

Advance. 



Weekly, $1.00 per 
'. Year. ." 




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Daily, 50c. a Month, 

$5.00 per Year in 

Advance. 



|» Weekly, $ KOO per 
." Year. ." 



^—nsss^S* AL^L^ K I N DS OF" -.^zBznn—^ 



Job and Blank Book Work, Ruling, Binding, Etc., 

PROMPTLY AND ACCURATELY DONE AT THE 

TRIBUNE : JOB ROOMS, 



No. lllO Twelfth Street, 



Al^^TOOJSlJ^, r 3 ^. 



X JSC Transportation Facilities JSC Railroads, 2£ % 




EING on the main line of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, the great double track trunk route 
between the East and West, Altoona enjoys 
superior advantages in the matter of transportation. 
Cars from every part-of the Union come to Altoona with 
their original lading-, and freight may be billed through 
from here to the Pacific or Gulf coast and the Dominion 
of Canada. Altoona being the terminus of a division, 
all trains stop here to change engines and crews and 
take on througfh passengers for east or west. A number 
of branch lines reach every corner of the county to the 
south and east: "Williamsburg, Martinsburg, Roaring 
Spring, Henrietta, Newry; and the terminus of the Mor- 
rison's Cove Branch at Henrietta only about three miles 
from the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad, extending 
from Huntingdon south to Bedford and Hyndman, Pa., 
and Cumberland, Maryland. 

At Bellwood, seven miles eastward, connection is 
made with the Pennsylvania and North Western, which 
extends northwest through the rich coal regions of Cam- 
bria, Clearfield and Jefferson Counties to Punxsutawne}' 
and there connects with the Rochester and Pittsburg 
Railroad to DaBois, Bradford and Western New York. 

At Tyrone, fourteen miles northeast, three branches 
lead off to the north and northeast; the Tyrone and 
Clearfield extending to Clearfield, Curwensville and Du- 
Bois; the Bald Eagle Valley extending to Bellefonte and 
Lock Haven, connecting at the latter point with the 
Philadelphia and Erie road for Williamsport on the east 
and Renova, Emporium, Kane, Warren, Corry and Erie 
to the west; and the Tyrone and Lewisburg branch ex- 
tending northeast to Pennsylvania Furnace in Centre 
County. 

At Huntingdon, thirty-four miles east, connection is 
made with the Huntingdon and Broad Top for Bedford 
and Cumberland, the latter on the line of the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad. 

At Cresson, fifteen miles westward, two branches lead 
off from the main line, one extending to Ebensburg, 
Spangler and Carrolltown, and the other to Ashville, 
Frugality and Coal port. 

All these roads bring merchandise to Altoona — coal 
and lumber especially — and many people from a distance 
who buy goods of the Altoona merchants, while every 
day considerable quantities of merchandise are shipped 
away from here to outside merchants and others, this 
being a natural wholesale distributing point. 

There is also another short road, the Altoona, Clear- 
field and Northern, extending from the eastern suburb 
Juniata, to Wopsononock mountain resort, and coal fields 



of Cambria County, which bring considerable amount of 
coal and lumber to the city. Another railroad is soon to 
be constructed to Altoona, coming in from Philipsburg 
on the north, and opening up a rich field for the benefit 
of this city. Altoona, with her nearly 50,000 inhab- 
itants, is too valuable a prize for railroad enterprize to 
remain longer within the power of but a single road, how- 
ever friendly to her interests that one may be. 

The railroad traffic passing through Altoona is im- 
mense. The tonnage of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
for 1894 was about one-seventeenth of the entire ton- 
nage of the United States, according to the United 
States census report and probably one-half of this passed 
through Altoona. 

Twelve passenger trains leave Altoona daily for the 
west and eleven for the east, and some of these trains 
are composed of two or three sections, practically so 
many additional complete trains. Six passenger trains 
depart each day for the southern part of the county 
over the branches previously mentioned. 

The number of freight trains leaving and arriving 
depends of course on the condition of trade, crops, etc., 
but it is seventy to ninety per day. 

Altoona has one of the largest freight yards in the 
country, being over five miles long and capable of hold- 
ing thousands of cars. 

Statistical of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 

Capital stock $129,298,200.00 

Miles of railroadowned and operated east of Pittsburg and 

Erie 4,490 

Miles of railroad owned and operated west of Pittsburg and 

Erie 4,326 

Total mileage of owned, operated and leased lines. 8,816 
Nunber of tons of freight hauled one mile on lines 
east of Pittsburg and Erie, year ending Dec. 31, 

1894 8,229,716,790 

Number of Passengers carried in 1894 60,472,252 

Average distance traveled by each passenger, 18 miles; equal to 
1,072,719,597 passengers carried one mile or one passenger 
carried 1,072,719,597 miles, equal to 42,909 times around the 
earth. 

Value of shops at Altoona, buildings, and grounds, 

not including machinery, about $2,000,000.00 

Number of men employed in Altoona shops, December 
roll, 1895; Machine Shops 4,051, Car Shops 2,364, Ju- 
niata Shops 789; Total 7,204 

Number of men employed on the three divisions centering 
here, who reside in Altoona; estimated by taking y 2 
Pittsburgh Division and ]A, of Middle Division 1,880 

Total Pennsylvania Railroad emplyes in Altoona. . 9,084 

Monthly pay roll for shops $325,000 

Monthly pay roll for Division employes and trainmen 

residing in Altoona 75,000 

Amount paid out monthly for material and supplies, about 100,000 
Total amount of money put in circulation here monthly 

by the Railroad Company, about 500,000 



** ** STREET RAILWAYS, %* ^ 




HE CITY has two lines of electric cars, both 
are under one management and the service is 
very satisfactory. 
The first road was built in 1882 by the City Passen- 
ger Railway Company and was opened on the 4th of July 
of that year with a notable demonstration. Electricity 
was not then in use and horses were the motive power. 
The line at that time was about three miles long, extend- 
ing from First Street along Chestnut Avenue to Eleventh 
Street, along Eleventh Street to Eleventh Avenue, along 
Eleventh Avenue to Bridge Street (between Sixteenth 
and Seventeenth Streets), along Bridge Street, across 
the railroad and curving to Seven- 
teenth Street, along Seventeenth 
Street to Eighth Avenue, and 
along Eighth Avenue to Fourth 
Street where the cars were turned 
on a turn-table and went back 
over the same route. Soon after- 
ward a branch was constructed 
from the corner of Eighth Avenue 
and Seventeenth Street along the 
street to Seventh Avenue and 
along Seventh Avenue to Twenty. 
Fifth Street, cars returning by 
same route. 

In 1S89 and 1890 a line was 
constructed from the corner of 
Eleventh Avenue and Bridge 
Street along the Avenue to Eigh- 
teenth Street, along Eighteenth 
Street — one square — to Union 
Avenue, along Union Avenues 
— passing under the railroad — to 
Broad Street and along Broad 
Street to city line at Twenty- 
Seventh Street. The line was 
also extended from Fourth Street 
and Eighth Avenue, along the 
street to Sixth Avenue and along 
Sixth Avenue to Lloyd Street, below First Street. 

In 1S91 electricity took the place of horses as the 
propulsive force, a power house being erected on Nine- 
teenth Street between Ninth and Margaret Avenues. 

A line of track was also projected from Chestnut 
Avenue and Seventh Street, along Seventh Street to 
Fourth 'Avenue; the trolley 'poles were erected, but no 
tracks have yet been put down. 

In 18')2 the Altoona and Logan Valley Electric Pass- 
enger Railway Company was formed and in 1S93 they 
built a line to Hollidaysburg, six miles. 

Early in 1894 the}' built a line to Bell wood, seven miles. 



The Hollida3'sburg line begins at the corner Twelfth 
Street and Ninth Avenue and extends along Ninth 
Avenue to Thirteenth Street, along Thirteenth Street 
to Fifth Avenue, along Fifth Avenne south-eastward to 
city line and beyond to Hollidaysburg. 

The Bellwood line extends from the corner of 
Eleventh Street and Eleventh Avenue, along Eleventh 
Avenue to Ninth Street, along Ninth Street to Howard 
Avenue — four squares — along Howard Avenue to Third 
Street, along Third Street — one square — to Lexington 
Avenue, along Lexington Avenue to First Street, along 
First Street to Chestnut Avenue and north-eastward on 
the countv road, a continuance of Chestnut Avenue — one 




View from Ninth Street Bridge Looking West, Machine Shops Yard at the Left, 
Twelfth Street Bridge in the Distance. 

mile — to Juniata, and from there crossing the railroad, 
down the valley of the Little Juniata — five miles — to Bell- 
wood. 

The Logan Valley, soon after its completion, se- 
cured a controlling interest in the City Passenger, and 
the two roads are now operated practically as one, under 
the same Superintendent. The Broad Avenue branch 
has been extended along the entire length of that 
thoroughfare to Thirty-first Street, from whence it is to 
be extended, curving to the eastward, to intersect with 
the Logan Valley line at about what would be Fifth 
Avenue and Thirtv-sixth Street, if streets and avenues 



■*x, »*. 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. JTC 2C 



25 



were projected so far. The Bellwood branch is also to 
be extended northeastward to Tyrone, fourteen miles 
from Altoona. 

In the city, cars run six minutes apart, and on the 
Logan Valley to and from Hollidaysburg, every fifteen 
minutes, and to and from Bellwood, every half hour 
during- the day and until a late hour at night. 

Fares in the city, including a transfer if desired, 
over any of the City Passenger Lines are but five cents, 
and the same charge is made to Lakemont Park or 
Llyswen, and ten cents to Hollidaysburg. To Juniata, 
the fare is five cents and to Bellwood, ten cents addi- 
tional. No transfers are given between the City Pass- 
enger and the Logan Valley. 

Lines have also been projected on other streets and 
avenues in the city beside those already noted, and some 
of them are likely to be built soon, especially one up the 
Dry Gap along Nineteenth Street or on Washington 
Avenue. 

The Logan Valley Company laid out and beautified a 
fine park with a larg-e artificial lake at a point midway 
between Altoona and Hollidaysburg which they called 
Lakemont, and which has no equal for beauty in the 
state. It is visited daily in summer time by hundreds 
and often by thousands of people, and in winter time the 
lake affords excellent skating-, no charge being made for 
admission at any time. 

Mileage, Equipment and Officers of the Electric 
«^* Railways, «$$ 

The City Passenger Railway and the Altoona and 
Logan Valley Electric Railway, being- practically one 
so far as the public is concerned, are so treated in this 
connection. 

The length of track of the two, within the city and 
between the power house at the south and Juniata 
Borough northeast, is eight and one-fourth miles. 

Leng-th of track from the power house at Thirty- 
second Street and Fifth Avenue, four and one-half miles. 

Length of track from Juniata to Bellwood, five miles. 

Aggregate mileage of electric road, seventeen and 
three-fourth miles, two miles of which between the 
power house and park, is double track. 



Tracks are laid and cars run on the following streets 
and avenues: 

Eleventh Avenue, between Ninth and Eighteenth 
Streets. 

Eleventh Street, from Chestnut Avenue to Eleventh 
Avenue. 

Chestnut Avenue, between Eleventh Street and city 
line east and Juniata. 

Ninth Street, between Howard Avenue and Eleventh 
Avenue. 

Howard Avenue, between Ninth and Third Streets. 

Bridge Street, from Eleventh Avenue across the rail- 
road to Seventeenth Street. 

Seventeenth Street, between the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road, main line, and Seventh Avenue. 

Seventh Avenue, between Seventeenth Street and 
Twenty-sixth Street. 

Eighth Avenue, between Fourth and Seventeenth 
Streets. 

Sixth Avenue, between Fourth Street and east city 
line and beyond. 

Union Avenue and Eighteenth Street, from Eleventh 
Avenue to Broad Avenue. 

Broad Avenue, from Union and Margaret Avenues 
to Thirty-first Street. 

And for short distances, connecting- with the fore- 
going- on Lexington Avenue, Third, First and Fourth 
Streets. 

Power is supplied from two houses which connect with 
both lines, the City Passenger's plant on Nineteenth 
Street near Ninth Avenue and the Logan Valley's new 
plant at Fifth Avenue and Thirty-second Street. 

The rolling stock of the two companies consists of 
twenty-five closed cars and thirty-three open cars. 

The number of employes is 175. 

The capital stock of the City Passenger is $200,000 

And of the Logan Valley, authorized $500,000, issued ... 375,000 

Total stock outstanding $575,000 

The number of passengers carried in 1S95 was 
2,800,000. 

The officers of both companies are : 

JOHN LLOYD, President, 

C. A. BUCH, Secretary and Treasurer. 

S. S. CRAINE, Superintendent, 

A. J. RILEY, Esq., Solicitor. 




F A WINTF R I Largest Piano, Organ and Music House 



1425 ELEVENTH AVENUE. 



ALTOONA, 



PENNA. 



PIANOS 

and 

ORGANS 

Sold on 

Monthly . . 
Installments. 

All the Leading 
Banjos, 
Guitars, 
Mandolins, 

Violins, 

Zithers, 

Music Boxes, 

Accordeons, 



5 And Other Musical 5 
; Instruments of s 
J Every . Description. \ 



New Music Received Daily 
and Sold at Half Price. 




THE ONLYjAUTHOEIZED AGENT FOE THE ; ALSO THE POPULAR AND FAVORITE 

CHICKERING PIANO j I\ranieh & Bach, Starr 

The Artistic Standard of the World, 26 And Many Other Makes of Pianos. 



Material Resources and Business of Altoona, 






N ADDITION to being the location of the 
principal shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company, the depot and base of supplies for 
engines, cars and furnishings, and the headquarters of 
the General Superintendent, the Superintendent of Mo- 
tive Power and Superintendents of other lesser depart- 
ments, employing, in the aggregate, over 9,000 men, 
which would suffice alone for the foundation of a large 
cit}', Altoona has other substantial advantages. 

Situated on the main line of this great trunk route 
between the East and West, she is surrounded on all sides 
with the elements of wealth and prosperity. Large depos- 
its of bituminous coal, and beds of fire clay to the north 
and west. Iron ore to the southeast; limestone in almost 
inexhaustible supply on three sides and mountains of 
ganister stone nearby, indispensable in the manufacture 
•of steel and formerly imported from Europe. Lumber 
regions to the north, east and west, and a rich agricul- 
tural country south. All reached and penetrated by the 
Pennsylvania Railroad and branches or leased lines, 
and with other competing lines seeking an entrance, her 
furture stability is assured. Altoona is also the natural 
distributing point for the territory within a radius of 
forty to one hundred miles in every direction and is des- 
tined, at no distant day, to become an important whole- 
saling city. 

*v Manufacturing Interests, 3£ 

The manufacturing interests of Altoona are now 
largely with the Railroad Company, and include the 
production of engines, cars, both freight and passenger, 
and all kinds of railroad supplies. We have in addition 
to this mammoth industry: 

One Rolling Mill employing 135 to 175 men, and 
producing annually $250,000 to $300,000 worth of mer- 
chant bar iron. 

One Large Machine Shop and foundry, employing 
from 150 to 200 men, and making a class of stationary 
■engines with a world-wide reputation for power, beauty 
■of construction and smoothness of motion. 

Two other Iron Foundries. 

One Silk Mill, employing 250 women and boys pre- 
paring the raw silk into yarn for the loom. 

One Ice Plant, emplo3 T ing 30 men and manufactur- 
ing 50,0<>0 poundsof ice per day from pure distilled water, 
by chemically produced cold. 

Twelve Planing Mills, employing in the aggregate 
350 to 500 men in the mills, manufacturing rough lum- 
ber into doors, sash, frames, etc., also several hundred 
carpenters outside. 



One Brick Yard, employing 25 to 40 men and pro- 
ducing 3,000,000 building brick annually. 

One Brush Factory. 

One Broom Factory. 

One Soap Factory. 

One Washing Machine Factory. 

One Mattress Factory. 

Three Manufactories of Soft Drinks. 

Three Marble and Granite Works. 

One Steam Dye Works. 

One Flouring Mill. 

Two Chop and Feed Mills. 

Four Breweries, employing 50 men and having an 
annual capacity of 75,000 barrels of beer and porter. 

One Candy Manufactory. 

Three Cabinet Shops. 

Six Cigar Factories, employing in the aggregate 
50 to 75 persons. 

Four Ice Cream Manufactories. 

Eleven Merchant Tailors, employing in the ag- 
gregate 150 to 200 persons in the manufacture of fine 
clothing for the citizens of Altoona and vicinity. 

Forty Shoemaker Shops, employing 75 to 100 men 
making and repairing shoes and boots. 

Five Wagon Shops, employing 20 to 30 men making 
and repairing — principally the latter — wagons, carri- 
ages and sleds. 

Eleven Watchmakers and Jewelers, employing 
in the aggregate 25 men repairing watches and clocks 
used in Altoona and vicinity. 

Five Harness and Saddler Shops, employing 20 to 
30 men making and repairing harness for the local trade. 

Eleven Bakeries, employing 50 to 60 men in the pro- 
duction of bread, cakes, etc. 

Nine Printing Offices, employing 150 to 200 men 
and boys, printing four daily and four weekly news- 
papers besides irregular publications, book and job 
printing. 

One Book Bindery, doing the local work of the city 
and vicinity. 

In addition to which are fully 1,000 mechanics 
in the house building line, carpenters, plasterers, ma- 
sons and painters, making on an average 300 new houses 
annually for new residents of this growing city. Also, 
150 to 200 plumbers and tinners, including proprietors 
and journeymen. 

Altoona needs more manufactories and she invites 
them to come here, insuring them a cordial reception by 
the citizens at large, and a sure and profitable business. 
Enterprise and energy, an invincible combination, is 
sure of a rich reward in this Mountain City. 



28 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. 



2£ Mercantile, J?£ 

In the mercantile line we have the following and 
there is room tor more : 

Four Wholesale Grocery and Provision Houses. 
One Wholesale Wood and Willow-ware House. 
Three Wholesale Produce and Commission Houses. 
Three Wholesale Confectioners. 
Seven Weolesale Coal Dealers. 
Four Wholesale Cigar and Tobacco Houses. 
One Wholesale Dry Goods and Notion House. 
Three Dry Goods Houses that sell wholesale and 
retail. 

Six dealers in Builders Supplies, besides the plan- 
ing mills. 

Four Banks with an aggregate capital of $400,000. 
In addition to the above are several wholesale 
agents who carry only samples for firms in other cities. 
In the retail trade there are : 
Seven Dry Goods Stores. 
Nine Book and Stationery Stores. 
Three China, Glass and Crockery Stores, exclu- 
sively, besides three Novelty Stores that handle large 
quantities of the same goods. 

Fourteen Clothing and Gents' Furnishing Stores. 
Three Hat and Gents' Furnishing Stores. 
Twenty-two Retail Coal Dealers. 
Twenty-two Drug Stores. 
Six Flour and Feed Stores. 

Ten Furniture Stores, three of which carry other 
lines. 

Forty-six General Stores. 

One hundred and thirty Grocery and Provision 
Stores. 

Two Butter Markets. 
Seven Hardware Stores. 

Six Installment and House-furnishing Stores. 
Fifty-five Meat Markets. 
Ten Milk Depots. 
Six Millinery Stores. 
Four Music Stores. 

Five Novelty, Notion and 5 and 10c. Stores. 
Eleven Shoe Stores, and twenty to thirty other 
dealers that sell shoes. 
Four Tea Stores. 

Nine Jewelry Stores; watches, silverware, etc. 
Three Department Stores, (these are enumerated 
also with the dry goods. ) 

2£ Professional, X* 

Eight Aldermen; one for each ward. 

Forty-s ven Lawyers. 

Sixty-two Doctors, including two ladies. 

Thirteen Dentists' Offices. 

Three Architect Firms. 



X Miscellaneous, 3£ 

Four Florists and Greenhouses. 

Fifty-four Barber Shops. 

Thirteen Blacksmith Shops. 

Two Carpet-cleaning Establishments. 

Twenty Painters and Paper-hangers, with shops. 

Five Fruit Stores carrying fair stock, besides 
numerous smaller ones. 

Six Steam and Hand Laundries. 

Five Livery Stables. 

Six Photographers. 

Twenty-tour Plumbing Shops. 

Six Sewing-machine Agencies. 

Twelve Restaurants; three first-class. 

Eight Tin Shops. 

Eight Undertakers and Funeral Directors. 

Twenty-seven Hotels, and twenty-two others with 
hotel license. 

Eleven Fire Insurance Agencies. 

Five Life Insurance Agencies. 

Three Money Loaning Agencies; real estate security 

Two Pawn Shops. 

Five Real Estate Agencies. 

Thirty-four Building and Loan Associations. 

One Theatre or Opera House 

One Music Hall— East Side Theatre. 

One Variety Theatre or Musee. 

One Natatokium or Swimming School. 

Twelve Public Schools and five Parochial Schools. 

Three Business Colleges, or Commercial Schools. 

Forty-two Churches, comprising sixteen denomina- 
tions, with church property valued at 81,200,000. 

X Transportation, Light, Etc, X 

Two Railroads, aud another projected. 

T«-o Electkic Passenger Railways, under one 
management, twenty-five miles of track, with lines to 
Hollidaysburg on the south and to Bellwood on the north 
east. 

One Express Company — the Adams. 

Two Telegraph Companies — Western Union and the 
Postal Telegraph-Cable. 

Three Electric Light Plants, owned by one com- 
pany, whose 200 two-thousand candle power arc lights, 
supplemented by those of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company, make this the best lighted city in the country. 

One Gas Company, with one of the finest plants in 
the State, making both coal and water gas. 

Two Telephone Companies, giving the lowest 
known rates. 



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MANUFACTURES. 



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[©.Wi^ia^ IvTO()NA is pre-eminently ;i manufacturing' 
city; vet because that great corporation, the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, by whom 



the major part of the artisans and mechanics are em- 
ployed, make use of all their own manufactured prod- 
uct, thj inhabitants hardly realize the fact, and the city 
does not receive sufficient credit for it, either at home 
or abroad. If the products of these shops were dis- 
posed of in the m irkets of the world, they would bring 
in millions of dollars annually, and Altoona would be 
known far and wide as the place where cars, engines 
and all kinds of railroad supplies were made in greater 
quantity than anywhere else in the country: or, if the 
Pennsylvania's plant were divided out among private 
corporations, it would suffice for twenty-five or thirty 
large ones; and thus the place would have more, pres- 



tige abroad without any better claim for it than now. 
In addition to the railroad shops there is a large 
establishment engaged in the manufacture of steam 
engines and all kinds of machinery and castings; a 
rolling mill, turning out many thousand tons of mer- 
chant bar iron annually; two smaller iron foundries; a 
very large silk mill, operated as a throwing establish- 
ment — making yarn and thread ready for the weaving, 
which is done by the same firm in the east; an exten- 
sive brick-yard, producing building brick; eleven plan- 
ing mills, manufacturing large quantities of dressed 
lumber, sash, doors, shutters, mouldings, brackets, and 
all the different articles in wood that go to make up a 
finished dwelling or a complete business block. Besides 
these are numerous smaller manufacturing industries, 
four large breweries, etc., etc. 




Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive Engine, Turntable and Round House. 



■ jCb.rtb rfb-igi- 



JOHN P. LAFFERTY, 

funeral Director. 

OFFICE: 911 CHESTNUT AVENUE. 



RESIDENCE: 1013 LEXINGTON AVE. 



CITY DAIRY.^^Ktt. 



C. W. BORING, 



Milk, Cream, Butter I Eggs, 

1012 CHESTNUT AVENUE. 



.& jfe-tSa-tfa- 



_tfa— cg^ cft-rf^-dii—igi.. 



JOHN O' TOOLE, 

ALDERMAN , 

Real Estate Agent, 

1011 BRIDGE STREET. 



ORR, BLHKE S» CO. Limited ' 

Contractors | Builders 

Manufacturers of and Dealers in ROUGH and DRESSED LUM- 
BER, SASH, DOORS, BLINDS. Etc. 



Telephone Connections, 



OFFICE, MILL and YARD, 7th Ave. and 5th St 



BRINGS, '■■ SILVERWARE * AND '■■ SILVER ♦ NOVELTIES* 

F\Qul5ILL BROS., 

THE RELISBLE JEWELERS, 

MIEIFMnMEHca @F WMTTCIHI]®© IPMCDMUPTTILlf MTTTTISBIDIBin) T©************ 



GEO. A. McKENRICK, 

FINE CIGARS. TOBACCO, PIPES, 

SNUFF, CONFECTIONERY, FRUITS AND SOFT DRINKS. 

340 Chestnut Avenue, - - ALT00NA, PA. 

ALSO POOL AND BILLIARDS. 



EZ 



fef ir^J WJ Uf> 

Iffl ri H ES 



*» fi- m m 




Rising Sun 

...HOTEL... 

P. McCANN, - Prop'r 

RATE, . $2 Per Day 



One of the largest Hotels in 

the city. Building- entirely 

new, with all modern im- 

proTements and eleg-antly 

furnished. 

HEATED WITH HOT 

WATER THROUGHOUT 

Special Rates to Theatrical 

. .People.. . 

"1310 TENTH AYE. 

3d building west of P. R. R, Station 



J. R. SWARTZ ; 



DEALER IN 



General Merchandise,. 

COR. LEXINGTON AVENUE AND SECOND STREET. 

SLTOONS, PENN'S. 



G. CASANAVE, 



MANUFACTURES OF 



Harness and Saddles 



1213 ELEVENTH ST. 



ALT00NA, PA 






,i--jj"«ii'v iy •■■)■,; 



l Shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, m 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm^mmmmm 




HESE are among - the largest, if not the larg- 
est railroad shops in the United States, and 
* employ over seven thousand men. They con- 
sist of three distinct plants in different parts of the 
city, but all lying- east of Sixteenth Street. 

The original plant lies between Ninth and Tenth 
Avenues, between Eleventh and Sixteenth Streets, and 
occupies twenty-eight acres of ground, the buildings 
having an actual floor area of over ten acres. Originally 
all the departments were located here: locomotive, freight 
car and passenger car, and machinery and supplies. 
Now, however, this part is called the Machine Shops, 
and includes the following shops and departments: 

^ Machine Shops, ^> 

One iron foundry, size 100x250 feet, where all the 
iron castings used in the construction of cars are made, 
with the exception of car wheels. 

One brass foundry, size 60x80 feet, where car wheel 
bearings and all brass castings are made. 

One blacksmith shop, size 56x273 feet, with a wing 
66x124 feet, containing thirty fires and three bolt fur- 
naces. 

One blacksmith shop, size 67x188 feet, containing 
twenty fires. 

One blacksmith shop in part of old No. 2 round 
house, containing twenty-six fires. 

One wheel foundry, size 72x140 feet, and a wing, 
56x94feet, with engine-house and boiler-house adjoining. 
The cupola chamber of this foundry is 29x40 feet, and 
the ladle will hold 20,000 pounds of melted iron. 

One new wheel foundry, size 66x160 feet, with cupola 
of forty tons capacity. 

One boiler shop, size 70x125 feet, with an addition or 
L, size 53x62 feet, and another building used for finish- 
ing which is 5Sxl24 feet. Also about two-thirds of the 
old No. 2 round-house is used as a boiler shop and de- 
voted to repairs. 

One flue shop, 45x126 feet, where the flues of the 
boilers are made and repaired. 

One lathe shop, 70x426 feet, two stories high, where 
castings are planed and turned smooth, cylinders bored 
out, etc. 

One vise shop, T-shaped, one part 60x250 feet, and 
the other 60x90; also a grinding room 60x100 feet. In 
this shop the different pieces of steel used in the con- 
struction of engines are filed and ground smooth, and 
fitted with great precision, so as to work perfectly in the 
position for which they are designed. 

One air-brake shop, size 60x75 feet, in which the air- 
brake machinery and supplies are made; also steam 
guagcs, safety valves, etc. 



Three erecting shops, two of which are 66x350 feet, 
and one 52x356 feet, in which the locomotive engines are 
put together and made things of life, power and beauty. 
Traveling cranes, capable of lifting twenty-five tons 
weight are used to handle the heavy pieces of iron and 
steel used here. 

One paint shop, 36x300 feet, in which the engines, 
tanks and cabs are painted, ornamented and varnished. 

One tin and sheet iron shop, size 67x150 feet, where 
all the tin work and many articles in sheet iron and 
copper are made. 

One telegraph machine shop, size 48x60 feet, in which 
much fine work is done in the manufacture and repair of 
telegraphic and electrical apparatus and supplies. 

One pattern shop, size 70x140 feet, furnished with a 
30-horse-power engine, planers, saws and other wood- 
working machinery. Here all the patterns for the 
various castings used in the shops are made. A pattern 
storehouse, 50x100 feet, is connected with this shop. 

One cab and tank shop, size 42x105 feet, in which 
cabs and tanks are repaired, wheelbarrows and cow- 
catchers made and other work done. The new cabs are 
now made at the Car Shops. 

One carpenter shop, 28x60 feet, with office attached. 
This is the headquarters of the carpenters who repair 
roundhouses and shops, build signal towers, repair 
bridges, etc. 

One roundhouse for Middle Division engines, size 
235 feet in diameter, with turntable and thirty-one 
tracks. Here engines are groomed, cleaned, examined 
and have slight repairs made to them when required 
after each trip, and prepared for the next run. 

One roundhouse for Pittsburg Division engines, size 
300 feet in diameter, with turntable and forty-four tracks. 
The men who take charge of the engines when they 
come in and make them ready for succeeding trips are 
commonly called engine hostlers. 

One building, two stories high in part and three 
stories in part, size 40x200 feet, used as storehouse and 
testing room on first floor, and offices, testing depart- 
ment and chemical laboratory on second and third floors. 
The store contains the various small tools and supplies 
used about the shops and along the road between Pitts- 
burg and Philadelphia; and the storekeeper keeps a 
record of all material used in the construction of every- 
thing made in the shops or furnished to other shops 
along the road. Many thousands of dollars worth of 
goods pass through the storehouse monthly. 

The testing department examines and tests all mate- 
rial bought for use in the shops, before it is accepted: this 
being done by both mechanical and chemical tests. 

The clerical department, keeping a record of all the 
work done, cost of the same and the time of the men, 
requires the assistance of more than forty accountants. 



32 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



The department of labor is also one of considerable 
importance and requires over one hundred men loading-, 
unloading- and shifting cars and keeping the shop yard in 
proper shape. The foreman of this branch has a small 
office building for his use. 

The watchmen form another part of the service, not 
less important than the others, as it is their duty to 
guard against fires and theft. Over forty of them keep 
watch of the buildings, grounds and merchandise; six- 
teen by day and twenty-five by night. 

The different kinds of work done here will be ap- 



The other departments are conducted on a scale of 
equal magnitude, but the kinds of work do not admit 
of a totaling so comprehensive and intelligible to the 
casual reader. 

G. W. Strattau is Master Mechanic of these Shops. 

1)% Car Shops. g& 

The Car Shops, ''lower shops," as they are commonly 
called, though not so appropriately since the erection of 
the Juninta shops still farther eastward and down the 
valley, were the first enlargement made by the company 




Twelfth Street Offices of Pennsylvania Railroad Company and Residence of General Supernitender.t, 



parent from the foregoing, and some conception of the 
amount from the following figures: 

Average amount of iron melted at the iron foundry 
for the past ten years, 38, 500,000 pounds, or 19,250 tons 
annually. This does not include the wheel foundry. 

In the car wheel foundry 100,000 to 110,000 wheels 
are moulded annually, each wheel weighing 500 to 700 
pounds. 

In the boiler shop an average of two locomotive 
boilers; per week have been made for ten years past, be- 
sides many stationary boilers and repairs to thousands 
of both kinds annually. 



after the original site at Twelfth Street became over- 
crowded. They were erected in 1869-70, and are situ- 
ated between the main line tracks and Chestnut Ave- 
nue, from Seventh Street eastward to a point below 
First Street, the lumber yard extending still further 
eastward for a distance of one-half mile to Juniata 
shops. Previous to the building of these shops, the car 
work, both new and repair, was done in the shops 
located near Twelfth Street, but since then all such 
work has been done here at these Car Shops. 

The car shops occupy 61 6-10 acres, including yards, 
and consist of the following buildings: No. 1 planing 
mill, in size 72x355 feet, filled with all kinds of planers, 



' 



X 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



33 



mortising and boring' machines, and other wood-work- 
ing- machinery, driven by a 250-horse-power Corless 
engine, which is located in an adjoining- building, 
25x100 feet, and to which all shavings are carried 
through large iron pipes by force of suction of large 
blowers. The various pieces of wood used in the con- 
struction of cars are here made ready to fit into their 
proper places without change. 

No. 2 planing mill, 44x77 feet, with carpenter shop 
attached, 40x1 15, and engine room 16x38, and boiler 
room 25x3'). This planing-mill is engaged for the most 
part in getting out work for the company's buildings, 
depots, telegraph towers, etc., but much other work is 
clone. There are machines for wood carving-, and for 
turning all kinds of handles for tools. 

A blacksmith shop 80 feet wide and 493 feet long-, in 
which are fashioned all the various shapes of iron for 
use in car building-. Here are steam-hammers of 1,200 
to 5,000 pounds stroke, used in forging heavy irons. A 
bolt machine weighing 60,000 poun Is, capable of mak- 
ing 1,000 two-inch draft pins in a day; another of 
40,000 pounds weight, which makes 3,000 coupling pins 
in a day. Immense iron shears, capable of cutting a 
bar of cold iron 3 inches thick and six inches wide in a 
second's time, or punch a hole three inches in diameter 
through a plate of cold iron two and one-half inches 
thick with the same facility. 

A bolt and nut shop, 30x135 feet. 

A truck shop, 75x85 feet, where car trucks are put 
together ready to set the car body on. 

A machine shop, 70x130 feet. Here are two hydraulic 
presses for forcing wheels on the axles and taking them 
off when unfit for further service. These presses can 
exert a power equal to the weight of one hundred tons, 
and wheels must go on the axle with a pressure of not 
less than twenty-five tons in order to be secure. 

An upholstering shop, 70x200 feet, divided into sev- 
eral rooms. 

A cabinet shop 70x167 feet, and- another room 70x200 
feet, formerly the passenger car paint shop but now 
used by the cabinet-makers; also a room on the second 
floor of this latter building 50x70 feet; also another 
room 1 2x25, used for steaming and bending wood into 
various shapes. 

A passenger car shop 132x211 feet, and connected 
with this is a storage building for iron work 20x100 
feet, and a shed for dry and worked lumber, 70x75 feet. 
This department is capable of building twenty-five pas- 
senger coaches per month, but as a great deal of repair 
work is done they seldom make so many new cars in a 
month. The magnificently luxurious parlor cars of the 
company are all made here. 

A paint shop, 135x420 feet, wherein all the passenger, 
parlor, mail, express and baggage cars are painted, 
ornamented and varnished. It will hold forty of the 
largest passenger cars, with room for men to work on 
all at the same time. 

Another paint shop, 100x400 feet, in which freight 
cars are painted. It is not large enough, however, to 
hold all the freight cars usually in the process of build- 



ing, and many are painted while standing on the tracks 
outside. Another paint shop, 53x54 feet, used by the 
house painters who paint depots, telegraph towers and 
other company buildings. 

An air-brake shop, 55x250 feet, with three tracks 
running the entire length of the building. Annexed to 
this building is a storage building, 25x60 feet, and an 
office for the foreman, 15x18 feet. Also a large covered 
platform, 20x90 feet, for storage purposes. 

A freight car shop which is circular, 433 feet in 
diameter, with a turntable 100 feet in diameter, in the 
open space, or court, in the centre. Within the covered 
space of this shop seventy-five freight cars can be built 
at once, and while numbers of others receive repairs on 
the tracks within the circle. 

A tin shop, 70x175 feet. 

A buffing room, 37x100 feet, occupying the second 
floor of a brick building near the tin shop. 

A store house, one floor of which is 36x124 feet, and 
another floor 36x87 feet, and an additional building, 
30x50 feet, for storing nails. 

An oil house, 16x26 feet, containing oils and cotton 
waste, used in the axle boxes of the cars. 

A fire engine house, 30x50 feet, in which is kept a 
steam fire engine and hose carriage as a protection 
against fires. 

A lumber yard covering twenty-five acres of ground, 
included in the 61 6-10 above, and in which are stored 
several million feet of the best lumber. The lumber be- 
ing constantly received, dried and loaded for the shop, 
requires the assistance of seventy-five men. 

Thirty watchmen are employed in these shops. 

The general foreman and the shop clerk's offices 
occupy a large brick building adjoining the storehouse, 
and the force, including officers and clerks, numbers 
twenty-three persons. 

John P. Levan is the General Foreman of these shops. 

X The Juniata Locomotive Shops, X 

This latest addition to the works of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company at Altoona were begun in September, 
1888, and finished in 1889-90. The first engine was 
turned out July 29th, 1891. The buildings occupy a 
plot of ground 33 6-10 acres, lying just east of the 
Car Shops' lumber yard, and between it and the Borough 
of Juniata, and comprise the following: 

A machine shop, 75x258 feet, two stories hi«-h. 

A boiler shop, 30x386 feet. 

A blacksmith shop, 80x306 feet. 

An erecting shop, 70x354 feet. 

A boiler house, 45x78 feet. 

An electricity and hydraulic building, 45x60 feet. 

A paint shop, 67x147 feet. 

A paint storehouse, 51-9x5-9 feet. 

An office and storehouse, 52x71 feet, two stories high. 

A gas house, 17x91 feet. 

These shops furnish employment now to almost 800 
men, and have a capacity for building 150 new locomo- 
engines per year. 

T. R. Browne is Master Mechanic of these shops. 

All the buildings of the Railroad shops are brick, 
with the exception of a few small offices, some of 



C. S. TAYLOR, 

DRUGGIST, 

No. 1000, Cor. Lexington Ave. and Tenth St., 
ALTOONA, PA. 



Established 1X74 



G. He NUGENT, 

Groceries, Provisions, 

FLOUR, FEED, ETC. 

317 HOWARD AVENUF, - - ALTOONA, PA. 

TEMPLE CLOTHING CO. 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

oi M FINE CLOTHING , [^ 

WHOLESALE AND KETAIL. 

Masonic Temple, = = HLTOONR, PS 

Branch of Leapold Hess & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 



ESTABLISHED 1883. 



F. J. SEIDEL, 

General Merchandise 

Also Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 

Cheese, Sardines, Herring, Mustard, Smoked Pish, Tripe, 

Pigs' Peet, Tongues, Ox Mouth, Kidneys, 

.' Oervelat Sausage, etc. .' 

Store, 906 Fifth Avenue. Resid3nce, 908 Fifth Avenue. 

THE MODEL LAUNDRY, 

HHRRY OTTO, Proprietor. 

Telephone Connection. Work Done on Short Notice. 

♦♦♦♦ 

1412 TENTH AVENUE. 



I 



a 



A. G. SINK, Proprietor. 



"'*' 



PHOENIX BLOCK. 



Standard — 
Furniture 
— Company, 



Furniture and 
House * Furnishing 



Goods. 



OPPOSITE MASONIC TEMPLE. 



ALTOONA, 



PENNA. 






T. M. RECER,- 



1106... Of A. . T OPPOSITE 

ELEVENTH yhotograDher -- 

STREET. 4L l --> 1 V HOUSE. 



ALTOONA BRUSH CO. 



iLL KINDS 



DOMESTIC, TOILET AND TRADESMEN'S BRUSHES, 

WHOLESALE H.ND RE;TH.II,. 

130Sj4 Eleventh Ave., ALTOONA, PA. 
= = G&T = = 

^Shave ancl Hair OvitK 

a. E. SHUTE'S, 

HO* ELEVENTH STREET ffLTOONH, PH. 

OTTP STAIRS.^* 



JAS. E. WINN ESTABLISHED 1872 W. L. NICHOLSON 



VJinn & Nicholson 



(general insurance 



1228 ELEVENTH AVE. 



ALTOONA, PA 



34 



FRANK BRANDT, 

Contractor * and * Builder. 

DEALER IN 

Rough and Smooth Lumber, Sash, Doors, Blinds, 

Lath, Shingles, Lime, Sand, Cements, 

Terra Cotta Pipe, Etc., Etc. 

Planing Mill and Office: 1722 Margaret Ave., Altoona. 

f IELEPHONE.^» 




Juniata Locomotive Shops, Brush Mountain in the distance, as seen from the mil-top just east of Altoona City Line. 

The stream flowing through the culvert is the Little Juniata, this being very near its head waters. At 

the first culvert is the Passenger Station and Terminus ol the Altoona, Clearfield 

and Northern Railroad. City Passenger and Logau Valley Electric 

Railway Cars pass along the highway here. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



35 



them are two stories in height, and one, the testing 
rooms of the Machine simps, three stories high; others 
siu'li as the blacksmith shops, round houses, foundries, 
etc., arc one story, in order that light from the roof may 
enter. The blacksmith shop at Juniata is two stories 
high. 

In addition to these shop buildings there are two 
large office buildings standing on Twelfth street, one at 
the corner of Eleventh Avenue, a three story brick, 
about 50x120 feet, and one on the corner of Twelfth 
Avenue, about 80x100 feet, three stories high. The 
former is used as the offices of General Superintendent 
of the road, the Superintendent of Altoona Division, 
Superintendent of Motive Power, Principal Assistant 
Engineer, Maintenance of Way Department and Tele- 



graph Department. The later contains the offices of 
General Superintendent of Motive Power, Motive Power 
Clerk and Mechanical Engineer. Other departments 
of the road, viz: Ticket Receivers and the Relief Doc- 
tors have offices in the second story of the Passenger 
Station. 

The Railroad Company also owns the Logan House 
building and grounds, and a large three story brick 
double dwelling on Eleventh Avenue, just west of the 
General Superintendent's office, in which reside the 
General Superintendent of the road and the General Su- 
perintendent of Motive Power; also several other dwell- 
ings on Twelfth and Eighth Avenues, occupied by 
officers of hiofh rank. 



2£ Officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 1895, 2£ 



George B. Roberts, President. 

:S. M. Prevost, General Manager. 

J. R. Wood, General Passenger Agent. 

William H. Joyce, General Freight Agent. 

A. W. Sumner, Purchasing Agent. 
James A. Logan, General Solicitor. 

The foregoing have their offices in the City of Phila- 
delphia, in the magnificent building, erected for Pass- 
enger Station and General Offices, on the corner of 
Broad and Market Streets. 

The following officers are located in Altoona : 
F. L. Sheppard, General Superintendent Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad Division. 

C. A. Wood, Chief Clerk to F. L. Sheppard, 
F. D. Casanave, General Superintendent of Motive 
Power. 
fW. H. Rohrer, Chief Clerk to F. D. Casanave. 

B. F. Custer, Chief Clerk of Motive Power. 

J. M. Wallis, Superintendent of Motive Power Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Division. 

W. E. Blanchard, Chief Clerk to J. M. Wallis. 

C. T. Witherow, Motive Power Clerk. 

H. M. Carson, Assistant Engineer Motive Power. 
M. W. Thomson, Principal Assistant Engineer. 
A. C. Shand, Assistant Principal Engineer. 



John R. Bingaman, Chief Clerk Maintenance of Way. 

W. S. Humes, Chief Clerk of Transportation. 

A. S. Vogt, Mechanical Engineer. 

Charles B. Dudley, Chemist. 

R. E. Marshall, Superintendent Altoona Division. 

O. F. Delo, Chief Clerk to R. E. Marshall. 

W. C. Snyder, Train Master, Altoona Division. 

W. F. Taylor, Chief Telegraph Operator, Altoona 
Division. 

Christ McGregor, Yard Master, Altoona Division. 

G. H. Neilson, Supervisor, Altoona Division. 

H. B. Weise, Assistant Supervisor, Altoona Division. 

D. Steel, Assistant Train Master, Pittsburg Division. 

Wm. Herr, Assistant Train Master Middle Division. 

G. W. Strattan, Master Mechanic, Machine Shops. 

A. W. Mechen, Chief Clerk to G. W. Strattan. 

Joseph Davis, General Foreman Machine Shops. 

John P. Levan, General Foreman Altoona Car Shops. 

L. B. Reifsneider, General Inspector Altoona Car 
Shops. 

T. R. Browne, Master Mechanic, Juniata Locomo- 
tive Shops. 

S. B. Council, General Foreman of Juniata Machine 
Shop. 

Charles T. Wilson, Station Master at Altoona. 

H. L. Nicholson, Ticket Agent at Altoona. 

A. T. Heintzelman, Freight Agent at Altoona. 



36 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 




Altoona Foundry and Machine Co, 



HE SECOND industry to locate in Altoona was 
the Altoona Manufacturing- Company. The 
works were familiarly known as McCauley's 
shops and later the Altoona Car Works, as they built 
freight and coal cars at one time. Recently the company 
was re-organized as the Altoona Foundry & Machine Co. 
The works occupy a plot of nearly six acres of 
ground on Broad Avenue, at the corner of Twenty-sixth 
Street, and extending- back to the Hollidaysburg Branch 
railroad. 

The buildings consist of: 

A machine shop, 50x200 feet, two stories in height. 

An erecting shop, 50x75 feet. 

A tool room, 30x40 feet. 

A pattern shop, 50x50 feet. 

A blacksmith shop, 40x75 feet. 

A boiler room, 30x40 feet. 

A foundry, 50x150 feet. 

A wood department, 50x100. 

Three pattern storage buildings, one 30x150 feet, 
and two 30x75 feet each. 

All the buildings are brick excepting the pattern 
storage. 

Engines are built, all kinds of light and heavy cast- 
ings made, and a general machine shop business carried 
on. The shops first erected were burned down Ma)' 23, 
1879, but immediately rebuilt, larger and better than 
before. 

The employes number 200 to 300 men, according to 
the demand for work. 

The capital stock is $100,000. Mr. M. A. Green, 
President and Manager, has been connected with the 
enterprise from the first. He is a thorough and practi- 
cal mechanical engineer, an inventor of note, and an 
engine manufactured here bearing his name is known 
far and wide; having a reputation for beauty, strength 
and smoothness of action unsurpassed. They are man- 
ufactured in great numbers and are in use in all parts of 
the country. 

W. B. Wigton is Secretary and Treasurer. 




Altoona Iron Company, 

URING the year 1872, a third industry, the Al- 
toona Iron Company, was organized in Altoona, 
and the works erected during that year. 
In April, 1873, they were first put in operation and 
have been running almost continuously ever since. The 
plant, a rolling-mill, is situated on the Hollidaysburg 
branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Thirtieth Street 
and Eighth Avenue, and consists of eleven double and 
six single puddling furnaces, four heating furnaces, four 
trains of rolls, two 8-inch, one 16-inch, and one 18-inch; 
and one 3-ton hammer. The product is merchant bar 



iron of superior quality, refined bar, band, hoop, oval, 
half-oval, round and scroll iron. Annual capacity on 
double turn, 18, "00 gross tons. One hundred and fifty to 
one hundred and sixty men are employed, and the annual 
production is valued at $250,000 to $300,000. 

The capital stock is $150,000; value of plant, $200,000-. 

The officers are, John Fullerton (of Philadelphia), 
President; H. K. McCauley, Secretary and Treasurer; 
Robert Smiley, Mill Manager. 



The Silk Mill 




NE of the latest large industries established in 
Altoona was the silk mill. This was brought 
about by the united efforts of a number of 
leading business men of the city why took stock in the 
enterprise and devoted a considerable amount of time 
and labor to its accomplishment, in 1888 and 1889. The 
buildings consist of a main structure, 45x250 feet, two- 
stories in height, and an engine and boiler room, 50x70' 
feet, one story high; and an annex, 48x120 feet, with an 
L, 20x20, both two stories high and connected with the 
main structure by an overhead passageway, 20 feet 
wide, across Twenty-fifth Street. 

All the buildings are of brick and substantially con- 
structed on a heavy stone foundation. The brick stack 
for the boilers is over 100 feet in height and the largest 
brick smoke stack in the city. The annex was built 
some three years after the main building and does not 
belong to the original pl^.nt. 

The main structure and boiler house were erected 
under the supervision of a building committee of the 
subscribers, on land owned by George Frost & Sons, of 
Patterson, N. J., who were to operate it. William Stoke 
& Co. were the contractors for the building. The plant 
as originally built cost $60,000, of which sum $44,000 
was subscribed by the citizens of Altoona and the bal- 
ance furnished by G. Frost & Sons. To secure the 
payment of the money subscribed by the citizens, 
bonds were issued to each subscriber to the amount of 
his subscription, and these were secured by a mortgage 
on the plant, given by G. Frost & Sons to trustees for the 
use of bond holders. 

The mill was put in operation in the spring of 1889' 
and gave employment to over 200 women and girls, and 
it was a moving cause for the erection of 300 or more 
houses in that part of the city and suburbs. 

Frost & Sons, however, having other large mills in 
the east, failed after two years, and the mill was taken 
into the hands of a committee of management for the 
bond holders. They leased it to the present operators, 
Schwarzenbaugh, Huber &Co., of New York, who are 
now running it steadily and profitably. They built and 
own the annex. About 250 hands are employed. No- 
cloth is woven here, but the raw silk is prepared in the 
form of yarn or thread for weaving in the eastern mills 
of the lessees. In silk mill parlance, it is operated as 
a throwing establishment. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 2£ & 



37 



2£ The Ice Plant, 2£ 

S^Wm ANUFACTUKKI) ICN, by means of artifically 
^W *$1 produced cold, is a recent invention —one of the 
aJIffiSatSa seeming miracles of the Nineteenth Century. 
This plant is located on the Logan Valley Electric 
Railway, on Mill Run, and near the intersection of 
Fifth Avenue and Thirty-first Street. It was constructed 
in the Spring- of 1889 by the Pennsylvania Ice Company, 
limited, of which Mr. F. H. Secly is one of the princi- 
pal stockholders and the resident manager. The plant 
consists of one large frame building-, 40x100 feet in which 
are a tank room 40x80 feet, and a storage room 20x40 feet. 
An addition with boiler and engine room, containing 



Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, on the Juniata 
River, below Hollidaysburg, where they have fourteen 
large ice houses. They are the most extensive ice deal- 
ers in the city, and supply the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company, as well as hotels, stores and families in the 
city. 

The process of making ice artificially is interesting, 
and may be briefly described as follows: A large tank is 
filled with strong salt brine which is reduced to a temper- 
ature very much below the freezing point by the chem- 
ical action of ammonia, which is circulated through 
coiled pipes immersed in the brine. The water to be 
frozen is put into air and water tight cans, and the cans 
immersed in the brine until their contents are frozen solid 

The cans used here are in size 11x22x44 inches and 
the cake of ice produced weighs 300 pounds. It requires 
sixty-eight hours to freeze one of these in the tempera- 
ture maintained, but as there are 480 cans and they 




Pennsylvania Ice Company's Plant, Fifth Avenue and Thirtieth Street. 



a 100-horse-power boiler and an 80-horse-power Corless 
engine. Also an office building, 16x32, with second 
story, used as sleeping apartments for the teamsters. 
Stabling for twenty head of mules and sheds for the ice 
wagons. 

The product is pure ice, made from pure distilled and 
filtered water. The capacity of the plant is 50,000 
pounds of ice every twenty-four hours, when operated 
night and da}-. Thirty men are employed, and in the 
summer season nine wagons are run to supply customers 
throughout the city. 

The company does not depend entirely on manufac- 
tured ice, but each winter cut and store large quantities 
in their ice houses at Point View, on the Williamsburg 



are removed and filled systematically, a cake is taken 
out every seven and one-half minutes, making in twenty- 
four hours 50,000 pounds of ice. 

Pleasing effects are produced by placing fish, fruit 
or flowers in a can before filling it, and then freez- 
ing the water around them, so that they can be seen in 
the centre of the block of ice when removed from the 
can. In this manner it would be possible to preserve a 
fish or fowl or basket of fruit for years, by packing 
other cakes of ice around this one to prevent it from 
melting. 

On the opposite side of the electric road is a large 
Natatorium owned by the same company and open to 
the public during the summer season. 



JOHN A. CdNdN &> CO. 



.mcAN and ( crncnrs 



AME 

FOREIGN 



TERRA COTTA 

...GOODS... 
BUILDERS' 
SUPPLIES, Etc. 



WAKEHOUSE AND YARD— Margaret Ave. and Eighteenth St. 



Mayers' M illinery 

IS HEADQUARTERS FOR 

FINE MILLINERY, 



LADIES', MISSES' AND CHILDREN'S 

COATS AND WRAPS. 



A. fl. WHITBHED, 



E^ 01 ^ 5 * 



of ALTOONA 



LARGEST GREENHOUSES IN THE CITY. 

SIXTH AVENUE AND THIRTIETH STREET. 

Bell Telephone. No. l'li PhoenU Telephone No. 14S 



&iqkth %Ma-vb MoUl 

GEORGE B. McMAHAN, Proprietor. 

600-2-4 SEVENTH AVE,, - - ALTOONA, PA.. 



Best accommodations for Travelers. Good and Commodious Stabling-. 
BAR SUPPLIED WITH CHOICEST LIQUORS. 



wjvi. e. miiiiiER, d. d. s. 

Oftiee and Jfesidenee, 

1122 TWELlFT(4 flVEfJUE, 

HUTOONA, PENN'H. 



BERT. BERKOWIT^r^fH 

JanciJ Grocer, 



1324 ELEVENTH AVE., 



ALTOONA, PA. 




CURRY, CANAN & CO. MlSJfi? 

Wholesale Grocers \ 

and flour dkai^ers 



GENERAL 

AGENT FOR 



Pillsbury's » Best 



FOR CENTRAL 

PENNSYLVANIA. 



Telephone Connections. 

Private Railroad Siding Facilities. 



....MARGARET AVENUE and NINETEENTH STREET. 



"THE PLAY'S THE THING:' 

X 

i 



\ Eleventh Avenue 
I Opera House, 



& 



; X MISHLEF L MYERS, Managers. X l 



X FINEST PLACE OF AMUSEMENT X 
X IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA, X X 

Its list of attractions includes the leading Dramatic, 

Operatic, Spectacular and Vaudeville 

Companies, Lectures and 

Concerts, 

rpT TT~! T T/^T TOO ^ a ^ ^ e rente ^ f° r '° ca ' entertainments 
1 lit} rl^JUOE public meetings, etc. X X X X 




ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



39 



Planing Mills, 




HE PLANING MILLS of Altoona constitute 
one ul' the leading 1 industries. Of these there 
arc twelve, and they give employment to sev- 
eral hundred men, working lumber into the various forms 
necessary for building and putting in place in the new 
houses which are being constantly erected to supply 
the demand of the increasing population. These mills 
arc located as follows: 

William Store's mill, a brick building, Ninth Ave- 
nue and Twentieth Street. 

M. H. Mackky & Son's mill, a brick building, Ninth 
Avenue between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. 

Orr, Blake & Go., limited, a frame building- sheeted 
with iron, Fifth Street, corner of Seventh Avenue. 

Adam Bucher's mill, a brick building, corner of 
Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue. 

A. C. Lehrsch's mill, brick and frame, Seventh 
Avenue and Second Street. 

Frank Brandt's mill, brick and frame, Margaret 
Avenue between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets. 

G. W. Rhine's mill, a frame building-, corner of 
Green Avenue and Eighth Street. 

D. J. Orner (lessee) mill, a frame building-, Twen- 
tieth Avenue and Eleventh Street. 

Parker Brothers' mill, a frame building, Fourth 
Avenue and Wallace Street, Juniata-suburb. 

W. B. Bancroft's mill, a frame building, corner of 
Fifth Avenue and Twenty-second Street. 

M. A. Boslet's mill, a frame building-, rear of Nine- 
teenth Street near Twenty-first Avenue. 

Keisel & Goodyeak's mill, a frame building, Six- 
teenth Street and Nineteenth Avenue. 

Most of these mills are large and well equipped with 
wook-working machinery driven by steam power, and 
all the firms are engaged in the business of contracting 
for and building houses. Besides these builders there 
are many other contractors, most important of whom, 
perhaps are Bunker & Fleck, whose office aud lumber 
yards are on Seventh avenue between Fourth and Fifth 
Streets. 




Flour and Chop Mills, 

E HAVE but one flour mill in the city, that of 
C. Hauser, Jr., & Son, located on Eighth 
WsjsSfia Avenue, corner Sixteenth Street, and known 
as the City Flouring- Mills. In the early days of the city 
a grist mill run by a wind wheel stood here. Later 
steam power was put in, and after a fire had burned the 
original buildings a large plant was erected by C. C. 
Stanberger, who had purchased it. 

C. Hauser, Sr., and son, C. Hauser, Jr., boug-ht it in 
1S76 and did a good business until 18S8, when it was 
ag-ain partly destroyed by fire, and while rebuilt is only 
operated now as a chop and feed mill. 

There are two other chop and feed mills, one located 
on Union Avenue, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth 
Streets, operated by T. M. Biddle and doing an extensive 



business. They have a railroad siding into the mill. 
The other, on Seventh Avenue and Third Street, is 
owned and operated by R. McMullen and does a consid- 
erable amount of business. Mr. McMullen also has a 
shingle mill which he operates on the same lot. 

Dr. S. C. Baker owns a large four story stone flour 
mill on Mill Run, near Seventh Avenue and Thirty-first 
Street, built in 1S54, but it has not been operated for 
twenty } r ears or more. 




Brick Yards, 

OHN R. VAUGHN was the first brick manu- 
facturer in Altoona. He established a yard and 
built kilns in the vicinity of Ninth Avenue and 
Thirtieth Street, before the city had extended to that dis- 
tance. These yards he operated for many years, and 
later his son, William F. Vaughn, was associated with 
him. On the death of John R. Vaughn in 1S92, William 
F. Vaughn established a new yard and erected kilns at 
Eldorado, three miles southeast of the city; soon after 
which the yard at Thirtieth Street was abandoned. 
About 3,000,000 building brick are made here annually 
and they find a read}' market at home. The number of 
men employed runs from 30 to 75. 




Breweries, 

|| F THE four breweries now running, that oper- 
ated byWilhelm & Schimminger on Thirteenth 
Street and Fifteenth Avenue is the largest; 
having a capacity of 20,000 barrels per annum. Four- 
teen men are employed, and the plant is worth S75,< 00. 
Martin Hoelle, the owner of the brewery, operated it for 
nearly twenty years, retiring in 1895. It was long known 
as the Hickory Brewery, but is now called the Altoona 
Brewery. It was built about 1870 by F. X. Endress & 
Company. 

The Empire Brewery, under the management of J. 
M. Enzbrenner, is a large four story brick building, on 
Ninth Avenue between Eighteenth and Nineteenth 
Streets. It has a capacity of 12,000 barrels per annum, 
and employs six to eight men. 

The American Brewing- Co.'s brewery is on the corner 
of Thirteenth Street and Fourth Avenue and is a well 
appointed brewing plant; having a capacity of 20,000 
barrels per annum and employing fourteen to sixteen 
men. This brewery was erected by Gust Klemmert about 
the year 1875, and long known as the Eagle Brewery. 

The Union Brewery, operated by A. Bender, is 
situated on Fourth Avenue between Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth Streets, and is a brick building, comparatively 
new. Capacity 8,000 barrels per year. There are four 
to six men employed here. 

In the early days of the city Kolley & Wahl and later 
Christian Wahl operated a brewery at 1313 Twelfth 
Avenue, which they called the Union Brewery, but this 



40 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



brewery closed operations eight or ten years ago and is 
now used as a manufactory of soft drinks and a livery 
stable. 

The Empire Brewery was first built some twenty or 
more years ago on Thirteenth Avenue between Four- 
teenth and Fifteenth Streets, and was operated by Geo. 
Enzbrenner. The buildings at this place ceased to be 
used as a brewery in 1893, after the erection of the build- 
ing on Ninth Avenue, and June 6, 1895, they were par- 
tially destroyed by fire. 




Gas Works* 



LLUMINATING GAS is furnished to the peo- 
ple of Altoona by the Altoona Gas Company, 
formerly the Altoona Gas and Water Company. 
This company was chartered by special Act of Legisla- 
ture, April 24, 1857, for the purpose of supplying Al- 
toona with gas and water. The original capital was 
$15,000. William H. Wilson was the first president and 
B. F. Rose secretary. The company secured the water 
at Pottsgrove, about one mile east of the city, and built 
a storage and distributing reservoir on the hill at the 
corner of Twelfth Street and Fifteenth Avenue, which 
was just outside the borough. They erected gas works 
on Eleventh Avenue between Eighth and Ninth Streets, 
and began furnishing both gas and water on December 
15, 1859. In 1871 the reservoir and main pipe from 
Pottsgrove were disposed of to the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road Company and the name of the company was 
changed to the Altoona Gas Company as at present. 
The service pipes in the streets were sold to the city in 
June, 1872. 

The first gas works, on Eleventh Avenue below Ninth 
Street, were considered very good in their time, and 
naturally looked upon as a permanent improvement; 
Their capacity was 30,000 cubic feet Of gas per day. 
the price of gas to consumers was fixed at $3.00 per 
thousand, which price continued for several years. In 
1864, during the reign of high prices, it was advanced 
to $3.50, but shortly afterward was reduced and now is 
but SI. 20, which has been the rate for several years past. 
The capacity of the works was increased from time to 
time to keep up with the increasing demands of the 
growing city, and in 1891 a plot of 4}4 acres was 
purchased and an extensive new plant erected with all 
the modern improvements and facilities for the manu- 
facture of the best quality of illuminating gas. The 
new works are located at the eastern end of Seventh 
Avenue, near the corner of First Street, and consist of a 
main building of brick 68x175 feet and two stories in 
height; another building 68x100 feet and two stories in 
height for purifying; a coal storage building 37x165 feet, 
stable and wagon shed 30x40 feet and a two story brick 
office building 33 feet square, in which are the large 
meters on first floor and chemical laboratory on second 
floor; also an immense telescope gas holder 125 feet 6 



inches in diameter and 123 feet 9 inches high, made of 
steel and capable of containing 1,000,000 cubic feet of 
gas. The plant is also supplied with a complete aparatus 
for the manufacture of water gas should there ever be a 
scarcity of coal from strikes or other causes, or should it 
be required to increase the supply. 

These works are large enough to supply a city double 
the present population of Altoona, but it is likely to be 
only a short time until they will be taxed to their full 
capacity. The could produce over 1,000,000 cubic feet 
of gas per day by running both the coal and water gas 
departments. 

The new plant was put in operation February 8th, 
1892, and soon afterward the old works on Eleventh 
Avenue were torn down and the ground is now occupied 
by a freight shed and side tracks of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad. 

The capital stock of the Company is now $300,000. 
The force of employes numbers over forty persons, in- 
cluding office help. 

The officers are: John Eloyd, President; W. C. Gerst, 
Secretary; W. D. Couch, Treasurer, and George H. 
Harper, Superintendent. Directors : John Lloyd, J. R. 
Bingaman, H. C. Dern, T. B. Patton, A. C. Shand and 
W. C. Leet. 



Electric Light Plants, 



LECTRICITY for city lighting was first intro- 
|| duced in Altoona by the Edison Electric Illu- 
minating Co. They began operations, March 6, 
1887, on Tenth Avenue between Eleventh and Twelfth 
Streets, the buildings having been erected during the 
fall and winter immediately preceeding. 

Mr. John Loudon and Mr. A. J. Anderson were the 
prime movers in the enterprise and original heavy stock- 
holders. The business was eminentl}^ successful from 
the first; so much so that a rival company, the Mountain 
City Light, Heat and Power Company, was organized in 
1887 and a plant erected by them on Ninth Avenue be- 
tween Ninth and Tenth Streets. During that year the 
"Mountain City" did not succeed as well as they had 
anticipated and after an existence of about three years 
disposed of their plant and franchises to the Edison 
Company for about one-half its original cost, since which 
time both plants have been run by the latter. The pro- 
ject of erecting a plant by the city to light the streets, 
city buildings and offices was agitated in 1894, but at a 
special election held in the spring of 1895 a majority of 
the people voted against a loan of $70,000 for the pur- 
pose, and as the Edison Company is furnishing lights of 
2,000 candle power, all night, for $84 each, which is pro- 
bably a fair price, the question of city ownership maybe 
considered settled for the present. 

The Edison Company are now completing a new plant 
on Union Avenue between Eighteenth and Nineteenth 
Streets, which is expected to be ready for operation in 
February, 1896. This plant will take the place of the 
other two, and they will be dismantled and disposed of 
for other uses. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



41 



The new plantoccupies two acres of ground, on which 
is erected a brick building- 80x110 feet in dimensions, the 
frame work of which is steel, built in with brick walls 
thirteen inches thick. The roof is slate on steel rafters 
and supporters, so that the structure is practically fire 
proof, no part of it being constructed of liilhim ible ma- 
terial. 

The building is divided into three compartments by 
solid brick walls. The divisions are: boiler room, engine 
room and dynamo room and wire tower. The boiler 
room is 34x106 feet, floor dimension, and contains four 
250-horse power boilers of latest designs and best make. 



the building - . The wire tower has been carefully con- 
structed and has the most approved devices to protect 
the building from the entrance of lighting' where the 
wires leave it. 

The capital stock of the company is 3300,000 author- 
ized, $250,000 issued, and pays 8 per cent, dividends an- 
nually. The number of employes is thirty-five. 

The present officers of the company are: A. J. An- 
derson, Secretary ; Henry Cryder, Treasurer; E. B. 
Greene, Superintendent, all of whom have been con- 
nected with the company since its organization, Mr. 
Greene is a thorough electrician. 




Paint Shop at Car Shops 

The smoke stack of the furnace is sheet iron, seven feet 
in diameter and one hundred and fifty feet high — the 
largest in the city. Under the floor of the boiler room 
is a rectangular cistern 110 feet long, capable of storing 
112,000 gallons of water. This is supplied by two arte- 
sian wells 450 feet in depth. There is a coal trestle on 
the south side of the building 150 feet in length. The 
engine room is 45 feet wide, 106 feet long and con- 
tains five high pressure compound engines, with a com- 
bined capacit}- of 1,500 horsepower. The dynamo room 
contains twelve dynamos, four with direct connection 
and eight belted. The offices, storeroom and repair 
shop of the plant will occupy part of this department of 




The City Water System, 

I/TOONA, as a small town and borough, 
for the first few years of her existence, 
procured her supply of water from wells 
and cisterns which each resident had to provide 
for himself, but in 1859 a water company was 
formed, by private enterprise, and a system of water 
works established — the gathering reservoir being at 
Pottsgrove's Mills, about two miles east of the city, 
and the storage and distributing reservoir on 
Fifteenth Avenue at the corner of Twelfth Street 
where it still remains, now owned by the Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad. The water was brought here by 
gravity. - The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 
had a controlling interest in this reservoir, and the 
pipes leading from it to the street lines were six feet 
from the bottom, this six foot reserve being for the 
company, so they would always have enough; their 
pipes leading to the shops opening from the bot- 
tom. 

So little did the projectors of this enterprise con- 
ceive of the furture growth of Altoona that they 
made the largest street mains only four inch pipe. 
This arrangement continued for a little more 
than ten years, when the city had so completely 
outgrown it that a new and increased supply was 
urgently needed, and municipality, purchased the 
pipes and franchises from the old company in 1872, 
and soon after proceeded to construct a reservoir at 
Kittanning Point — Burgoon's Run — where it now 
is, and laid pipes to the city. A new storage reservoir 
of 3,000,000 gallons capacity was also constructed on the 
hill at Second Avenue between Twelfth and Thirteenth 
Streets. The first dam built at Kittanning Point was a 
small affair in comparison with those now there and the 
first pipe to Altoona was but twelve inches in diameter. 
This work was completed in 1872-3, at a cost of about 
$200,000; bonds being issued to meet the expense. The 
city grew so rapidly that in less than ten years this sup- 
ply was inadequate and in 1S82 the dam was greatly en- 
larged at an expense of nearly $200,000 more, and another 
pipe of 16-inches diameter laid to the city. 

Before another decade had passed, the added popula- 




W. L. SHELLENBERGER, 

DEALER IN 

■Raiders' ^5<5pplies, (en)er)t, * * . * # 
* * ^ fteWer 'P'P 6 ' K' fle -Pipe, Ftc. 



£ Sewer Pipe. Flue Pipe. Rosendale Cement. 



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— * 



Anchor Cement. Saylor's Portland Cement. 

Imported German Cement. Lime. 

Brick. Plaster. 







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J 

^ 



* Plastering Lath. 



White Sand. 



Plastering Hair. 
Mortar Stain. 



Building Sand. 
White Lime. 



Fire Brick. 



Ground Fire Clay. 



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Metalic i Cement : Paving. 

DURKBILITY UNSURPSSSED. 



Contractor for Laying and Building in Concrete, 



1710 NINTH ffVENUE, 



SLTOONS, F»a. 




.«- ~K, 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X 



43 



tion of the city called loudly for more water and a loan 
of $220,000 to procure an additional supply was voted by 
the people at a special election held in the autum of 
1892, but some defect in the ordinance authorizing- the 
bonds rendered their validity questionable, and, as it 
was feared they could not be negotiated, none were 
issued and the matter went over until February, 1S95, 
when, the question being 1 submitted to a popular vote, 
the loan was again approved and the bonds issued and 
sold. The work of constructing a larger impounding' 
reservoir below the first one at Kittanning Point was, 
begun in 1894 and is nearly completed now, January, 
1896. 

Public opinion was considerably divided as to the 
advisability of this last mentioned reservoir, many think- 
ing- the money should have been expended in procuring 



by these reservoirs, and the entire system of water works, 
including- the pipes to and in the city and the reservoirs 
at the Point cost upward of a million dollars. The rates 
charged consumers is very low, and Altoona has every 
reason to be proud of this part of her possessions. 

The works are controlled by a Board of Water Com- 
missioners; the present members of which are: W. J. 
Heinsling, Thomas H. Wiggins and D. K. Ramey. The 
Water Superintendent is Samuel A. Gailey, and'his as- 
sistant and clerk is C. A. Martin. 

The latest reportof the Water Commissioners, March 
31, 1895, shows the length of cast-iron main pipes now 
laid in the city and between here and the reservoir at 
Kittanning Point, viz: 




Car Shop Yard— Wheel Platform, 



other streams instead of storing so much from this one. 
The utility of this impounding reservoir, however, will 
be plainl}- apparent in the near furture, and, while new 
sources of supply are advisable it is wise to take proper 
care of this one. The two reservoirs at Kittanning 
Point are within the curve of the famous Horseshoe 
Bend of the Pennsylvania Railroad, about six miles by 
rail west of the city, but only four in a direct line. They 
are most substantially built and have a capacity for 
430,000,000 gallons. They are in some respects a work 
of art and attract the attention of all daylight travelers 
over the Pennsylvania Railroad. 

They are fed by two clear mountain streams that 
come down separate gorges and unite here. As the 
drainage area is wooded mountainside it is very pure and 
sweet. The city paid $13,874.22 for the ground occupied 



27,888 feet of 16-inch pipe. 
63,643 feet of 12-inch pipe. 
16,170 feet of 8-inch pipe. 
52,515 feet of 6-inch pipe. 
62,543 feet of 4-inch pipe. 

6,576 feet of 3-inch pipe. 

7,758 feet of 2-inch pipe. 



Total, 237,093 feet, equal to 44.9 miles. 
The Kittanning Point reservoirs are 1.496 feet above 
the level of the sea, being 315 feet higher than the pass- 
enger station at Altoona. The old one has a capacity of 
65,000,000 gallons and the new one, when completed, 
will hold 365,000,000 gallons, making a total of 430,000,- 
000. The distributing reservoir on Prospect Hill, Twelfth 
Street and First Avenue, has a capacity of 3,000,000 gals. 




Business Houses and Large Buildings, 



• i 




The Logan House — Hotel 

Is the largest building- in Altoona, fronting about 250 
feet on Tenth Avenue between Twelfth and Thirteenth 
Streets and extending back to Eleventh Avenue 255 feet, 
although it is not of the same width more than one- 
third of the distance. It is a brick building, four stories 
in height and contains one hundred and fifty rooms. It 
was built in 1S54 and is owned by the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company. Value of buildings and ground 
$450,000. 




Scene in Machine Shops — Blacksmith Shop. 

The Eleventh Avenue Opera House Building 

On the west corner of Eleventh. Street and Eleventh 
Avenue, is 100x120 feet and four stories in height, built 
of brick, owned by W. W. Rouss of New York City, and 
occupied by Cook, Salmond & Cowden's Department 
Store and George Kalish's Clothing Store on the first 
floors and the Opera House on the upper floors. This 



building was first erected in 1868 by a Market House 
Company, which sold it a few years later when it was re- 
modeled for an Opera House and stores. In 1888-9 it was- 
remodeled, rebuilt and added too to its present shape and 
size, an extra' story being added to it and a building at 
the west side, fifteen feet wide, took the place of an 
alleyway which had been left when the Market House 
was erected. Value of building and ground $150,000. 

The Masonic Temple 



On the south corner of Twelfth Avenue and Elev- 
enth Street is a four story brick building, 50x120 
feet in size, erected in 18S9, owned by the Masonic 
Lodges of the city. The first floor is devoted to 
stores, which face Eleventh Street; the second floor 
is used as offices and the third and fourth floors by 
the Masonic Lodges. Value of building and ground 
3100,000. 

The Odd Fellows' Building 

Is a three story brick, about 50x60 feet, situated on 
Twelfth Street between Tenth and Eleventh Aven- 
ues; owned by Odd Fellows Association, First floor 
is occupied by the postoffice and the second and 
third by lodge rooms. Value of building and ground 
$25,000. 

Woodcock's Arcade 

Is a three story brick building-, 86x110 feet, situated 
on Eleventh Avenue between Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth Streets, erected in 1887; occupied by stores 
on the first floor and offices and halls on the second 
and third. William L. Woodcock, owner. Value 
of building- and ground $80,000. 

The Nicholson Building 

Is a three story brick, with stone and glass front, 
size 47x110 feet, situated on Eleventh Avenue be- 
tween Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, erected in 
1893. First floor occupied by stores, the second by 
offices and the entire third floor by the Elks for their 
club rooms. H. L. Nicholson owner. Value $50,000. 



The Phoenix Building 

Is a four story brick building, 80x120 feet, situated on 
Eleventh Street at the foot of Twelfth Avenue. It was 
erected in 1887 for a playhouse and called the Mountain 
City Theater, but a fire destroyed the interior before the 
end of the second season, and it was then remodeled for 
a business house. The first floor has stores and the sec- 
ond and third offices, the fourth storage rooms. Part of 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X A 



45 



-the rear is occupied by Harry Davis Eden Musee and 
Family Theater. Lewis Plack owns the Phoenix Build- 
ing. Value of building- and ground $80,000. 

Gable £. Co.'s Great Daylight Store 

Is a three story brick, with glass and copper front, size 
50x120 feet, built 18')0, on Eleventh Avenue between 
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets. The three floors and 
the basement are all occupied by the immense Depart- 
ment Stores of William F. Gable & Co. Value $70,000. 

The Schenk Building 

On the west corner of Eleventh Avenue and Fourteenth 
Street is a three story brick, 50x120 feet in size; owned 
by Charles (irieson and occupied by stores, offices and 
lodge rooms. Value $60,000. 

Mateer's Building 

On Eleventh Avenue between Fourteenth and Fifteenth 
Streets, a four story brick; 50x120 feet in size, used for 
stores and offices, erected in 1894, J. Ross Mateer owner. 
Value $65,000. 

The Murray and GoodfellowvMelvin Co.'s Buildings, 

These buildings are built together so as to appear as 
one; Murray's 50 feet front and Goodfellow-Melvin Co.'s 
25 feet, both extend back 120 feet to the alley, thus 
making a business block 75x120 feet, three stories in 
height, built of brick and occupied as stores, offices, etc. 
Value $100,000. 

Quandt and Cherry Building 

On the west corner of Green Avenue and Ninth Street, 
a four story brick 60x100 feet, occupied by Harry Wayne 
& Co.'s furniture and house furnishing store. 

Fay, Hutchinson and Co.'s Building, 

This is a three story brick building 50x100 feet, just 
"being completed on Green Avenue between Seventh and 
Eighth Streets. It will be occupied by the wholesale 
grocery firm of Fay, Hutchinson & Co. 

Government Building, 

Altoona has been making strong efforts for several 
years to obtain a government Buildinar for Postoffice and 



United States Court rooms, but without success so far. 
Several bills have been introduced in Congress to appro- 
priate $150,000 for the purpose but failed to pass; but it 
is believed now that our present Congressman, Hon. J. 
D. Hicks will be able to secure the passage of the bill 
this session, and that a fine building will be erected at 
an early date. 

Other Buildings, 

Other large business buildings are: 

The Calvert Building on the east corner of Eleventh 
Street and Chestnut Avenue. 

Casanave Building, Eleventh Street at the head of 
Chestnut Avenue. 

Wolf's Building, Couch Building and McClain's 
Building, all on Eleventh Avenue between Thirteenth 
and Fourteenth Streets. 

D. Ferguson & Son's Building on the corner Ninth 
Street and Green Avenue; three story brick 50x50 feet. 

Ramey's Building and Lee's Building on Twelfth 
Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. 

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Buildings 
on Twelfth Street between Eleventh and Twelfth Aven- 
ues. 

The Brant House, north corner of Tenth Avenue 
and Twelfth Street. 

The Central Hotel on the south corner of Eleventh 
Street and Eleventh Avenue. 

The Engle Hotel on the west corner of Fourteenth 
Street and Tenth Avenue, five stories high. 

The Globe Hotel, west corner of Thirteenth Street 
and Tenth Avenue. 

The Hotel Franklin on corner Seventeenth Street 
and Ninth Avenue; three story brick 50x100 feet. F. P. 
Molloy owner. 

The Fifth Ward School Building on Margaret and 
Union Avenues, and each of the other Eleven School 
Buildings in trie city. 

The Juniata Club House, built for a residence by 
L. Plack, but now remodeled and used by the Juniata 
Club. 

St. John's Roman Catholic Church on Thirteenth 
Avenue between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets; the 
Convent adjoining and Boys' School across the avenue. 

The Second Presbyterian Church on Eighth Aven- 
ue between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets. 

The Second Lutheran Church on Seventh Avenue 
between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. 





CHAS. H. YON, 



j General * Merchandise, I 



17 WASHINGTON AVENUE. 



F. HESvSER, 



DEALER IN 



Dru Goods, Carpels, Notions, 

OIL CLOTHS, i:tc 



1424 ELEVENTH AVE., ARCADE BLOCK, 
ALTOONA, PA. 



D. E. SPRINKLE, 



Cor. Eleventh Ave. and Sixteenth St., 



ALTOONA, PA. 



SHOES for the Workmen, 
SHOES for the Country, 
SHOES for the City, 
SHOES for the Minister, 
SHOES for the Doctor, 





SHOES for the Lawyer, 
SHOES for the Merchant, 
SHOES for Men, Women, 
Misses, Boys and Infants. 
Boots, Shoes and Slippers 



And Always and Forev 



' Than Any Store In the City. 



ft ft GOOD CLOTHES, ft ft 

We have built up our reputation by combining all the highest points of 
excellence in the garments which we turn out. We stand today in the van- 
guard of advancement of fine tailoring 1 , and handle only such fabrics as tasty" 
and fastidious dressers can wear with pride and satisfaction. 

M. M. 1HEPFENBACHER, 

1513 ELEVENTH AVENUE, - - - ALTOONA, PA. 

Representing Jacobs Bros., "Wanamaker & Brown. 



SAMUEL SHUFP", 

The ; Bargain : G 



1517 FOURTH SVENUE, 



SLTOONS, P2E. 



The finest line of Fancy Groceries and General Merchandise in the city. When you want bar- 
gains, come to the Bargain House. If you have anything to sell, send us your prices. We buy and 
sell everything. The celebrated Gilt Edge Creamery Butter in one pound prints, the finest in the 
world. Come to see us and we will do you good. Remember ours is the Bargain House. 



^CUT PRICES IN MEDICINES^ 

Have Come to Stay St 
X IRWIN'S DRUG fiTORE. X 

For the past year we have been solving- the problem How to Sell Medicines 
at Cut Rates and" Make Money. We have solved the problem and CUT RATES 
have come to stay at Irwin's Drug Store. The growing number of our custom- 
ers are all well pleased at our price* and pure fresh goods. Are you one of 
them? If not, better get in the procession and enjoy the benefit of the LOW- 
EST PRICES. Come and get our price list. We have only space here for a few- 
pointers : 

Chase's Nerve and Blood Food 33c 

Doan's Kidney Pills 40c 

William's Pink Pills 40c Jadway's Elixi 

Hood's Sarsaparilla 63c Hand's Remed 

Irwin's Sarsaparilla 60c " 

Irwin's Pink Liver Pellets 10c 

Mellin'sFood 38 andS5c Pear's Soaps— All Redu 

Horlick's Malted Milk 38 and 75c Castile Soap-Imported Conte, perlb 17c 

We wish everybody to come t'.our store and get the benefit of the LOWEST 
PRICES. Soda Water every day in the year except Sunday. 

W. II. IRWIiN. Druggist. 

Eleventh Avenue and Sixteenth street. Telephone 683. 



Cuticura Shaving Soap lie 

Buttermilk Soap— Genuine Sc 



W. E. MULHOLLEN & CO. 

Fine Groceries, Provisions, 

GENERAL MERCHANDISE, WOOD AND WILLOW WARE. 



Building and Loan Expert. 



^ 

^ 



3E YOU have a loan in any Asso- 
ciation and want to know how 
you stand or want to repay it , or if 
you contemplate borrowing money 
from a Building and Loan Associa- 
tion, it will pay you to consult an 
EXPERT. $3 to $5 thus expended 
may, perhaps, save you $100. J3C 






C B. CLARK, 



916 CHESTNUT AVENUE. 



Phoenix Phone 83, Bell Phone 483. 



46 



Attorney - at - Law and Building and Loan Expert, 

ARCADE BUILDING, ALTOONA, PA. 



JSC Commercial and Mercantile, JSC 



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| LTOONA is the largest city hot worn Pittsburg 
and Harrisburgf and is metropolis of a district 

ill inure than 100 miles radius, she is therefore 
in a position, and destined at an early day to be an im- 
portant trade center, the distributing point lor a large 
territory; great wholesale establishments will be located 
here in the early furture and the retail trade of the cits- 
will be immense when the merchants shall have fully 
Comprehended the situation and made correspondingly 
large provisions to meet it. While there are some 
wholesale houses here in the grocery and provision line 
and notions, and a large number of retail stores, there 
are none of the former and very few of the latter that 
till the conditions required, or that have prepared them- 
selves to meet the demands of the purchasing- public 
and supply the trade that might be broug-ht here by ju- 
dicious advertising and by having in stock everything- 
that could be called for. When it becomes known 
throughout Central Pennsylvania that everything-, 
whether useful or ornamental, can be had in Altoona as 
well as in Pittsburg or Philadelphia, and at as favorable 
prices, Altoona merchants will supply the wants of 
300,000 people, and millions of dollars that now go else- 
where will come here. This is a rich field for great 
mercantile undertakings, and it only awaits enter- 
prising merchants with capital to develop and enlarg-e it. 

These observations are not made for the purpose of 
detracting from the city or its business men, but to ex- 
hibit to strangers how wide a field is here for invest- 
ment, and to show the citizens what a mine of wealth 
lies undeveloped in their midst, in the hope that capital 
will be induced to come here and that our own people 
may reach out after the golden fruit within their grasp. 

Leaving the consideration of what might be for that 
which is, the amount of money that comes to Altoona 
monthly and is distributed through the various trade 
chanels is estimated at over $500,000, principally from 
the following sources. 

Monthly pay roll of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co $375,000 

" " " Electric Railway Companies 7,500 

" " " Altoona Foundry & Machine Co. 6,000 

" " " Altoona Iron Company 7,000 

" " " Silk Mill 2,500 

" " " Gas Co. and Electric Light Co.. . 4,000 

Other industries whose products are sold outside of Al- 

toon a 10,000 

Amount of money coming- to Altoona from outside towns 

and adjoining counties, and other sources 100,000 

Total $512,000 

Of this sum $100,000 is paid in interest on borrowed 
monej- and for buildings and betterments, leaving $400,- 
000 to be distributed among the merchantile houses of 
the city. The $50,000 that is paid out in wages by the 
planing mills, contractors, builders, street railway and 



private employers is not included in the above, because 
not drawn from without, but it goes along with the 
$400,000 above mentioned, swelling- the aggreg-ate to 
$450,000, to buy merchandise; and thus passes through 
the hands of the retail merchants, and from them to the 
wholesalers and manufacturers away from Altoona. 
This process is repeated monthly. The time from the 
10th to the 20th of each month is the period when money 
is plenty in Altoona, because during that time occurs 
the pay days of most employers, and has come to be the 
time when all balances are exting-uished or reduced. 
From the 20th of any month to the 10th of the following 
month, money is constantly g"oing away from the city and 
becomes less and less in volume, until the lowest ebb is 
reached, just prior to another pay day season. 

Principal among the business houses of the city who 
receive this money from the wage earners in exchange 
for the necessaries of life are: 

Aggregate Monthly 

Stock Sales 

Two extensive Department Stores $300,000 $100,000 

Seven Dry Goods Stores 200,000 60,000 

Ten Wholesale Houses 120,000 110,000 

Twelve Shoe Stores 135,000 22,000- 

Eight Millinery Stores 30,000 8,000- 

Thirteen Clothing Stores 125,000 250,000 

Three Gentlemen's Furnishing Stores 12,000 4,000 

Twelve Merchant Tailors 30,000 14,000 

Forty-five General Stores 190,000 80,000- 

Twelve Furniture Stores 70,000 20,000 

Nine Hardware Stores 65,000 18,000 

Twenty-two Drug Stores 70,000 22,000 

One Hundred and Thirty Grocery Stores. . . 140,000 90,000 

Fifty-two Meat Markets 100,000 

Twenty Coal Dealers (retail) 15,000 

Eight Jewelers 40,000 6,000 

Three Hundred other Stores and small 

business places 150,000 125,000 

The foregoing figures are of necessity only approxi- 
mately correct, but they are adopted after considerable 
inquiry and consultation with those best informed and 
are believed to be reasonable accurate. 

In addition to the foreg-oing are the professional 
men and women who get a share of this money only to 
pay it out again: The doctor, the dentist, the lawyer, 
preacher, teacher, who must all live and earn and spend 
money. The same dollar will often buy ten dollars 
worth of goods in a single day, being- passed from one 
hand to another for value; and this explains why the 
ag-gregate sales of merchandise so largely exceed the 
estimated amount of money coming into the city from 
all sources. 



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NE OF THE most essential adjuncts to com- 
merce is capital and this it is the province of 
banks to furnish. Altoona has but four of these 
and their combined capital is less than half a million 
dollars. No comment is necessary on this state of facts. 
Altoona needs more banking capital and offers a prem- 
ium for it. It may be added, however, that the thirty- 
two Building" and Loan Associations of the city supply 
to some extent the lack of banks, their monthly loans 
amounting- to over 5100,000. 




The Fidelity Bank, Corner Twelfth Street and Eighth Avenue 

The banks now established in Altoona are: 

The First National Bank on the corner of Eleventh 

Avenue and Twelfth Street. Capital S150,000. Surplus 

$68,000. John Lloyd, President; Henry Cryder, Cashier. 

This bank was established in 1864. 

The Second National Bank on Thirteenth Street 

between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. Capital $100,000. 



Established in 1882. John Levan, President ; Frank 
Hasting-s, Cashier. 

The Altoona Bank, unincorporated. Established 
1872. Capital $50,000. Location on Eleventh Avenue 
between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets. E. B. Isett, 
President; J. G. Davis, Cashier. 

The Fidelity Bank, (not a National). Established 
December 13, 1886. Capital $50,000. W. J. Heinsling-, 
President; J. W. Findley, Cashier; A. P. Rupert, As- 
sistant Cashier. Located on the corner Eighth Avenue 
and Twelfth Street. 

Three other banks have had an existence in Altoona 
in the past and their rise and fall are now a part of her 
history. 

The first of these was Bell, Johnston, Jack & Co., 
later Wm. M. Lloyd & Co. This bank did business for 
a mumber of years in a small building on Thirteenth 
Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, and later 
erected a neat bank building there, which is now owned 
and occupied by Second National. It did a very exten- 
sive business and its failure in 1873 was a hard blow for 
Altoona. 

The Mechanics Savings Bank was established in 
1870 in its own building on the corner of Eighth Avenuue 
and Twelfth Street, Wm. M. Lloyd being its President 
and Maxwell Kinkead, Cashier. Later Mr. Kinkead 
became its President, and in 1884 it suspended and its 
affairs were closed up. 

The Citizens Bank was established in Spring of 1886 
and occupied rooms in the then new Ratney building on 
Twelfth Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. 
S. I. Fries was President and J. D. Fries, Cashier. It 
did a good business, being for a time the only bank on 
the East side of town, but a trusted employe absorbed to 
much of the funds, and in the Fall of 18S9 it quit busi- 
ness, settling up honorably however and paying all obli- 
ofations in full. 



... "- 






: 



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C Building and Loan Associations, 2£ 









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LTOONA probably has more Building and Loan 
Associations than any other city of its popula- 
tion in the country. The number now run- 
ning is thirty-twd locals and two others with similar 
charters but operated as Nationals. 

Tlic fust Associations organized here were terminals, 
and have all matured their stock and closed up their 
affairs, but the later ones are serials, issuing- a new 
Series of stock each year and thus perpetuating- their 
existence. 

The terminals matured in eight to nine years and 
were extremely profitable to the stockholders. The 
serials have, so far, been maturing their stock in ten 
years, which gives a high rate of interest to non-borrow- 
ing stockholders and makes the interest paid by borrow- 
ers reasonable where they have not paid too great a 
premium for the loan. The monthly payments in nearly 
all are one dollar on each share, and the par or matured 
value of a share, $200.00; borrowers paying one dol- 
lar per share as interest in addition to the dues of one dol- 
lar or a total of two dollars on each share borrowed on. 
In a few Associations the premium is not deducted in 
advance from the loan but is paid in monthly in- 
stall ments, additional to the two dollars per share. 
Premiums have ranged from ten to forty per cent, 
with occasional loans above or below this rate, while 
twenty-five per cent, has been the probable average for 
the ten year period just passed. On this basis, non-bor- 
rowi rs in ten years, having paid in S120, received 3200 
on each matured share, and borrowers, at a twenty-five 
per cent, premium deducted in advance, have received 
$150 on each share at the start and paying at the rate of 
two dollars per month, have paid in S240 on each share, 
which repaid the loan debt and interest and canceled 
their obligations, they receiving nothing at the end of 
the term except release from further payment. This 
makes the rate of interest paid nearly ten per cent., but 
many persons have secured and paid for a home in this 
way, who could have done so in no other way, and who 
would have paid out nearly as much for rent in the time. 

The Building and Loan Associations of Altoona have 
filled the places of a bank in numberless cases. Business 
men often resort to them for loans which they repay soon 
after, and in periods of financial stringency, money could 
be obtained from them on good real estate security when 
the banks would not discount the best commercial paper. 

Merchants have frequently complained that Building 
and Loan Associations took all the money the wage 
earners received while their bills remain unpaid, but 
this complaint was not well founded because the money 



did not go out of the city, but went to contractors and 
mechanics, and eventually came to the merchants. 

The lirst Association organized in Altoona was the 
Germania, chartered October 25, 1869. Only 1,000 
shares were issued, and they matured in eight and one- 
half years. Premiums ran very high; one borrower pay- 
ing sixty-three per cent, and as a consequence, receiving 
but seventy-four dollars on a share. There was a fixed 
premiumof six p^r cint., and non borrowers only received 
$188 on a share. Not a single borrower was sold out 
by the Sheriff. This is a record not often achieved. The 
officers of the Association were : Louis Keifer, Presi- 
dent; Frederick Falkensten, Secretary for the first few 
months, after which David Koch was Secretary; Samuel 
M. Woodcock, Esq. was Solicitor for the first year or 
two, after which A. V. Dively held the office till its 
final winding up. 

The later Associations have had more work for the 
Sheriff and have frequently been compelled to proceed on 
borrowers securities to collect the money due them, and 
in order to save themselves, have bid off the property at 
Sheriff sales. 

The present Associations, with their time and place 
of meeting, date of charter and names of officers and 
directors are as follows : 

Allegheny Loan and Building Association No. 
3. Chartered January, 1890; serial; meets fourth Satur- 
day nf each month in Alexander's Association Room, 
1126 Eleventh Avenue. S. M. Hoyer, President; Elixis 
Elder, Secretary; J. G. Davis. Treasurer; A. V. Dively, 
Solicitor. Directors: A. H. Barwis, J. M. White, W. 
B. Bancroft, Jacob Oswald, Fred. Herr, G. M. Ott, 
Wm. Stoke, W. C. Reem, J. C. Hughes. 

Altoona Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered February, 1889; serial; meets third Tuesday of each 
month in Woodcock's Building, 1426 Eleventh Avenue, 
at 7 p. m. George H. Olewine, President; H. L. Nich- 
olson, Secretarj-; J. G. Davis, Treasurer; William L. 
Woodcock, Solicitor. Directors: Joseph Davis, C. W. 
Moore, A. M. Stewart, E. R. Haines, Thos. Bushman, 
S. 10. Hedding, William Calvert, J. H. White, James 
Hutchison. 

Altoona Model Building and Loan Association. 
Chartered June, 1895; serial; shares, S150; monthly 
dues, fifty cents on unborrowed stock and one dollar per 
share per month when borrowed on. Meets in Wood- 
cock Building the third Friday evening of each month. 
W. B. Bancroft, President; C. M. Piper, Secretary; J. 
W. Findley, Treasurer; C. B. Clark, Solicitor. Direc- 
tors : S. B. Council, James Foust, G. M. Gesser, H. R. 
Earlenbaugh, Thomas Bushman, S. J. Breth, P. G. 
Bell, E. A. Zeek, J. L. Exline. 



Fancy Groceries, Vegetables in Season. 

FRESH BUTTER AND EGGS A SPECIALTY. 

1301 TWELFTH AVENUE, - - AtTOONA, PA. 

Phoenix Telephone 175. 

R. S. WESTBROOK, 

MANUFACTURER AND SHIPPER OF 

-vice v Cream.l 

1601 ELEVENTH SVENUE. 



Power— Water Motor. Equal to Six Horse Power Engine. 
Capacity— 300 Gallons Every Twelve Hours. 



TELEPHONE No. 283. 



J W. ISENBERG, D. D. S., 

^DENTIST.! 



Corner Green Avenue and Eleventh Street.. 

32 YEARS EXPERIENCE. 

Hgent for Babcock's Fire Extinguisher. 

SIERS' CIGAR MANUFACTURING CO. 

BLTOONJt, PR. 

Cigars i of i .AJ1 i KUnds 

FOR THE JOBBING TRRDE. 

J. ROSS MATEER, 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL 

Druiggist eiracL Otaem-ist, 

COR. ELEVENTH AVE. AND FIFTEENTH ST, Branch Store at Juniata, 

PROPRIETARIES— Mateer's Sweep Stake Linament, Mateer's Horse and 
Cattle Powder, Mateer's Fraqr rant Tooth Wash, Mateer's Insect Powder. 

Hard Rubber Trusses, Bandages, Supporters, Etc., at Manufacturer's 
Prices. Grocer's Supplies. Physician's Perscriptions a Specialty. Telephone 
Connections. Messenger Service. 



ALTOONA PLANING MILL, 



Green Avenue and Eighth Street. 



GEO. W. RHINE, Proprietor. 



.OLDEST IN THE OITY.^^hbzb*-^ 



MANUFACTURER OF AND DEALER 



Sash, Doors, Blinds, Moulding, Stair Work, Verandas, Cornice, Shingles, Store Fronts, Veranda Posts, Porticos, 

Mantels, Inside Finish, Ceiling, Siding, Flooring, Pickets, Lath, Posts, Steel Brick, Hot Bed Sash 

Counters, Hawed Posts, Balusters, Hand Bails, Head Blocks, Plinth Blocks, Ornaments, 

Brackets, Fancy Gahles, Steel Ceiling, Pulpits, Altar Work. 



Building of All Kinds Taken by Contract, 



Plans" and Estimates Furnished on Short Notice. 



Satisfaction Guaranteed. 



4 
1 



WEST END HOTEL 

J. R. EUSTACE, Prop'r. 

TENTH AVE. AND FIFTEENTH ST., 
ALTOONA, PA. 



f 



ODORLESS EXCAVATING CO. 

Guaranteed 50 Gallons in a Barrel 

IN REMOVING CONTENTS OF PRIVY VAULTS. 

Call at M. B. McGRATH S Coal Office, or address Box 38, 

Altoona, Pa. Telephone 1343. Correspondence 

promptly answered. COLEMAN BROS. 



W. A. LANDER, 



DEAI.ER IN 






Dry * Goods, * Notions, 

CARPETS, WINDOW SHADES, ETC. 

-g^^Wl^, 

Special attention paid to Fine Dress Goods in Wool and 
Washable Fabrics. Fine Laces also a Specialty. 

1401 Eleventh Ave., « flliTOONfl, PA. 



EliWAV 8t JVIATTAS, 

DEALERS IN 

Fresh and Smoked Meats. 

50 1604 ELEVENTH AVENUE. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



51 



Blaik County Loan and Building Association-. 
Chartered August, 1890, serial, meets fourth Monday of 
each month in Wolf's Building', 1313 Eleventh Avenue. 
H. E. Ferguson, President; C. T. Witherow, Secretary; 
George D. Bechtel, Treasurer; Craig & Bowers, Solici- 
tors. Directors: George Harpham, II. A. Hoffman, Jas. 
Foust, E. S. Forney, J. M. Johnson, W. B. Bancroft, S. 
H. Tuck. 

Citizens Loan and Building Association. Char- 
tered March, 1887, serial, meets fourth Friday of each 
month at 1 226 Eleventh Avenue. N. C. Barclay, Presi- 
dent; H. L. Nicholson, Secretary; J. G. Davis, Treas- 
urer; E. H. Flick, Solicitor. Directors: Paul Sharp, 



John Gavin, Joseph Davis, John Flanigan, Joseph Hoof- 
nagle, Joseph Sanders, George W. Kuebler, Frederick 
Scheffield, Thomas M. Lynam. 

Economy Building and Loan Association. Chart- 
ered September, 1895, serial, meets the third Monday of 
each month in Emerald Hall, corner Eighth Avenue and 
Fifteenth Street. I. B. Hughes, President; R. M. Lewis, 
Secretary; A. P. Rupert, Treasurer; Greevy & Walters, 
Solicitors. Directors: Dr. J. H. Hogue, J. B. McDonough, 
T. B. Wcrhle, Jos. T. Brown, B. M. Mitchel, Michael 
Manley, Frank Brandt, J. M. Hughes, Joseph Stevens. 

Eighth Wakd Loan and Building Association. 
Chartered November, 1889, serial, meets third Tuesday 
of each month at Hope Fire Co.'s Hall, Sixth Avenue 




Pennsylvania Railroad Company — Machine Shops — Interior View of Erecting Shop. 



52 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



and Fourth Street. John G. Kline, President; James 
B. Bowles, Secretary; A. P. Rupert, Treasurer; John K. 
Patterson, Solicitor. Directors: Robert Stout, J. C. Orr, 
E. M. Clabaug-h, J. A. Walters, W. H. Wolff, Adam 
Bucher, J. W. Bitner, William Orr. 

Enterprise Loan and Building Association, No. 
2. Chartered June, 1887, serial, meets third Wednesday of 
each month at Alexander's Building - and Loan Associa- 
tion room. John C. Henry, President; John Ermine, 
Secretary; J. G. Davis, Treasurer; J. Banks Kurtz, Soli- 
citor. Directors: C. A. Wood, John O'Neil, Jos. Betz- 
endorfer, G. Casanave, J. S. Leisenring, John Ermine, 
George Fox, Jas. R. Flanigan, M. C. Kelly. 

Equitable Loan and Building Association. Char- 
tered June, 1881, serial, meets third Monday of each month 
in Woodcock's Building. S. I. Fries, President; H. L. 
Nicholson, Secretary; S. J. Westley, Treasurer; A. V. 
Dively. Solicitor. Directors: W. C. Stearns, Jackson 
Simonton, Jacob O. Freet, George Hauser, Jacob Os- 
wald, D. A. Gilland, Frederick Effinger, Louis J. Hoover. 

Excelsior Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered April, 1886, serial: meets third Tuesday of each 
month in Woodcock's Building. Joseph B. Hileman, 
President; George H. Delo, Secretary; W. Lloyd Bow- 
man, Treasurer; William h. Woodcock, Solicitor. Direc- 
tors: S. M. Griffith, Joseph Davis, Michael Poet, D. K. 
Howe, C. W. Moore, George H. Olewine, W. F. Taylor, 
Edward Fennell. 

Fame Loan and Building Association. Chartered 
June, 1887, serial, meets third Thursday of each month 
in Alexander's Building and Loan Association Hall. 
Samuel Lloyd, President; Henry Hawk, Secretary; Geo. 
Bechtel, Treasurer; Edwin M. Amies, Solicitor. Directors: 
H. C. Dern, H. H. Pensyl, L. L. Fair, W. H. Herr, E. H. 
Numer, H. F. Bucher, Harry Geesey, D. W. Osbaugh, 
John Phander. 

Fidelity Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered July 18S4, serial, meets third Saturday of each 
month in Logan Hall, Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 
Joseph Davis, President; David Koch, Secretary; Frank 
Hastings, Treasurer; Neff and Hicks, Solicitors. Direc- 
tors: E. G. Ducher, J. G. Kline, Charles Farren, Dr. C. 
B. Dudley, H. H. Stone, M. H. Mackey, Ludwig Kieffer, 
Fred Scheffield, D. F. Sunderland. 

Franklin Loan and Building Association. Char- 
tered April, 1882, serial, meets third Saturday of each 
month in Alexander's Building and Loan Association 
Hall. H. C. Dern, President; Henry Hawk, Secretary; 
George D. Bechtel, Treasurer. M. Alexander, Solicitor. 
Directors: Samuel Lloyd, W. H. Herr, Thomas C. Kitchen, 
E. H. Numer, Joseph Davis, Daniel Condrin, Ludwig 
Kieffer, James White, Harry Geesey. 

Germania Building and Loan Association, No. 3. 
Chartered July, 1893, serial, meets third Tuesday of each 
month iu Froshinn Hall, Ninth Avenue and Twelfth 
Street. Anthony Bender, President; Vincent Zierer, 
Secretary; L. G. Lamade, Treasurer; H. T. Heinsling, 
Solicitor. Directors: George Kolle, Theo. Schraf, Peter 
Pielmeir, FredNichola, U. Schittlekoff, Sr., U. Stange, 
John Heinz, F. Unzenberger, Math. Stehle. 



Home Building and Loan Association. Chartered 
July, 1895, serial, meets third Tuesday of each month in 
Logan Hall. T. W. Cole, President; H. L. Murray, 
Secretary; J. W. Findley, Treasurer; W. Frank Vaughn, 
Solicitor. Directors: S. M. Griffith, D. S. Keith, E. S. 
Forney, M. H. Mackey, M. R. Keesey, Geo. F. Jackson, 
W. H. Markley, John S. Elway, George Hauser. 

Hope Building and Loan Association. Chartered 
August, 1884, serial, meets fourth Tuesday of each month 
in Alexander's Building and Loan Association Hall. 
Thomas McKiernan, President; P. W. Hudson, Secre- 
tary; Frank Hastings, Treasurer; William S. Hammond, 
Solicitor. Directors: R. F. Bankert, W. S. Douglass, 
M. S. O'Friel J. R. Bingaman, F. N. Pease, Fred Schef- 
field, David Swanger. Thomas Wiggins, J. F. Costelow, 

Independent Building and Loan Association. 
Chartered December, 1889, serial, meets third Friday of 
each mouth in Logan Hall, Eighth Avenue and Twelfth 
Street. Lawrence Fagan, President; Dr. A. L. Feltwell, 
Secretary; James W. Findley, Treasurer; John K. Pat- 
terson, Solicitor. Directors: Balzer Koelle, George 
Lehle, R. J. Stinson, J. W. Shope, C. D. Beegle, James 
S. Fleck, J. H. Allen, Samuel Brumbaugh, W. W. Keagy. 

Jefferson Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered April, 1886, serial, meets third Saturday of each 
month at 1313 Eleventh Avenue. W. S. Lingentelter, 
President; T. J. Trout, Secretary; S. J Westley, Treas- 
urer; J. A. Doyle, Solicitor. Directors: H. K. Filer, C. 
W. Emeigh, Frank Brandt, William Alloway, Jacob 
Bierbower, H. G. Buckley, John B. Tate, Theo. Burch- 
field, W. C. Burtnett. 

Juniata Building and Loan Association. Chartered 
August, 1892, meets third Tuesday of each month in 
Wolf's Building, 1313 Eleventh Avenue. W. D. McKelvey 
President; S. H. Tuck, Secretary; H. L Clabaugh, 
Treasurer; Craig & Bowers, Solicitors. Directors: M. 
W. Thomson, William Cook, Arthur Timm, W. T. 
McConnell, W. H. Housman, W. H. Slep, J. C. Allen, 

Keystone Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered February, 1878, serial, meets third Tuesday of each 
month in Alexander's Building and Loan Association 
Hall. William T. Miller, President; D. Koch, Secretary; 
J. G. Davis, Treasurer; M. Alexander, Solicitor. Direc- 
tors: H. C. Dern, Charles Gern, Thomas Rees, Henry 
Schum, James Morgan, W. H. Hardman, F. S. Ball,. 
Peter Moore, William Stoke. 

Logan Loan and Building Association. Chartered 
April, 1877, serial, meets third Monday of each month 
in Alexander's Building and Loan Association Hall. 
Samuel Abrahims, President; David Koch, Secretary; 
J. G. Davis, Treasurer; Edwin M. Amies, Solicitor. Di- 
rectors: John I. Spiel man, M. Alexander, James. Morgan T 
W. H. Herr, Allen Griest, D. F. Miller, Daniel Osbaugh, 
Simon Kline, John Phanders. 

Mutual Loan and Building Association. Chartered 
December, 1S88, serial, meets third Monday of each 
month in Logan Hall. D. Laughman, President; G. 
"W. Slayman, Secretary; S. J. Westley, Treasurer; Chas. 
Geesey, Solicitor. Directors: W. W. Murray, F.. M. 
Greene, J. E. McDowell, D. H. Crawford, J. Foust, 



X 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, A 



53 



William E. McKee, William Metzenbacher, Geo. W. 
Harpham, E. S. Forney. 

Pknn BUILDING and Loan Association, No. 2. Char- 
tered January, 1892, serial, meets the third Friday of each 
month in Alexander's Building and Loan Association 
Hall. E. G. Hoover, Secretary; H. L. Clabaugh, Treas- 
urer; W. S. Hammond, Solicitor. Directors: Martin 
Zitnmer, Harry Wood, David Swonger, P. G. Shelley, 
George W. Blair, J. D. Earhart, Fred Scheffield, John 
Costelow, William SluilT. 

Peoples Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered in March, 1SSS, serial, meets fourth Thursday of 
each month in Alexander's Building and Loan Associa- 
tion Hall, 1220 Eleventh Avenue. M. H. Mackcy, Pres- 



Security Din. dim; and Loan Association. Char- 
tered January, ISSf,, serial, meets fourth Monday of each 
month in Woodcock's Building-, 1426 Eleventh Avenue. 
John Carr, President; R. M. Lewis, Secretary; S. J. 
Westley, Treasurer; W. B. Manley, Solicitor. Di- 
rectors: W. K. Beatty, C. W. Mason, William Alloway, 
Henry Bloomfield, J. C. Orr, Joseph Brown, Joseph Davis, 
I. B. Hughes, Samuel Felty. 

Standard Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered January, 18S7, serial, meet fourth Monday of each 
month in Alexander's Building and Loan Association 
Hall. S. M. Griffith, President. George Harpman, Sec- 
retary; H. L. Clabaugh, Treasurer; Craig & Bowers, 
Solicitors. Directors: H. E. Ferguson, Joseph Davis, 



^tiffi 





*?9UKCM 



Car Shop Yard- 
ident; D. S. Keith, Secretary; J. W. Findley, Treasurer; 
J. D. Hicks, Solicitor. Directors: J. S. Fleck, C. A. 
Wood, J. B. Flanigan, Thomas H. Wiggins, H. L. Mur- 
ray, J. R. Bingaman, Dr. C. B. Dudley, W. W. Murray, 
James Hutchison. 

Provident Building and Loan Association. Char- 
tered August, 18S7, serial, meets the third Friday of each 
month in Alexander's Building and Loan Association 
Hall. L. P. Work, President; C. T. Witherow, Secre- 
tary; W. H. Bridenbaugh, Solicitor. Directors: Thomas 
Bushman, James C. Barger, D. H. Crawford, Jno. Gailej', 
J. B. Bowles, Geo. P. McCollum, C. M. Piper, M. A.. 
Green, J. W. Robeson. 



-Freight Car Shops. 

W. H. Glenn, George F. Jackson, R. H. Griffin, A. J. 
Engle, E. S. Forney, James M. Baird, D. A. Little. 

Teutonia Loan and Building Association. Char- 
tered September, 18S6, serial, meets third Thursday of 
each month in East Side Theater. Henry Kunzig - , Pres- 
ident; William Scheffer, Secretary; Balzer Koelle, Treas- 
urer; A. V. Dively, Solicitor. Directors: C. Klink, Jos. 
Neff, Fred Gleichert, Jacob Geib, Christ Fauth, Balzer 
Koelle, Fred Ehret, Jr., A. Hoffman. 

Union Building and Loan Association. Chartered 
September, 1895, serial, meets the third Wednesday of 
each month in Woodcock's Building. Adam Bucher, 



i § 

I Profitable * * 



g 



1 



i 



m w w Jxciverti'si'ng 




(an ONLY BE OBTAINED through the medium haying a 
circulation direct exclusive, and of positive influence with 
the class of buyers and consumers you want to reach. This 
is accomplished by advertising in 3fc % $fr * 3£ 



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WE 






YOUR SAME and 50 Cents, which will pay for one month, 
or $5.00, in advance, for one year, placed in an envelope and 
entrusted to Uncle Sam, is pretty sure to reach us; though 
for obvious reasons we would not assume the risk. A postal 
order or check would be safer, ft It will mean a subscription 
to a Journal that will give you the News— local, general and 
telegraphic. ■& The local field is covered daily by a corps of 
live news gatherers. The fashion and general news depart- 
ment is under the supervision of. competent persons. The 
telegraphic news is received from the United Press, an agency 
that reaches to all parts of the United States, and all the 
principal cities of the world; and whose service, as furnished 
to the ALTOONA TIMES , is equal to that received by New 
York and Philadelphia papers. #■ 3fc ^ ^ * * 



What We Can "Do for 2/ou . . . 

^RINT your Bill Heads, Statements, Letter Heads, Programs, 
Business Cards, Wedding Invitations, Blanks (legal, commer- 
^/£/ cial, railroad and mining), Law Books and Magazines, Cata- 

^$w logues and Price Lists. •& Building Association Roll Books, 

Receipts and Reports, Bank Checks and Bankers' Blanks, 
Posters and Hangers— anything and everything. -* # 3fc 

Potter, Sreer, ulelly <5c Co. 

Second Sloor. 1226 oleventh JXvenue. 









14 
I 
I 



PA' 

i 



s§^» 



fMMEmwmMmMmwmwM^mwMM 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



55 



President; Dr. H. C. McCarthy, Secretary; Frank Hast- 
ings, Treasurer; Thomas C. Hare, Solicitor. Directors: 
.In,,. II. Wetzler, Jas. K. Elder, P. G. Shelly, VV. B. Ban- 
Iroft, W. K. Aurandt, S. .1. Breth, Charles Clare, Chas. 
Cassidy, <> L. McCartney. 

Vigilant Building ami Loan Association. Char- 
tered January, 1889, serial, meets the third Monday of 
each month in Woll's Building', 1313 Eleventh Avenue. 
Fred Scheffield, President; C. T. Witherow, Secretary; 
II. L. Clabaugh, Treasurer; Craig & I lowers, Solicitors. 
directors: Joseph Davis, George Harpham, Samuel A. 
Cailey, .1. S Wilkinson. J. W. Slothower, Robt. Rogers, 
J. Max Ferrur, Stephen McDonald, John J. Dunn. 

Washington Lo.w and Building Association, No. 
2. Chartered May, 1889, serial, meets the fourth Wed- 
nesday of each month in Logan Hall, corner Ninth 
Avenue and Twelfth Street. Dennis Sullivan, Presi- 
dent; II. D. Nicholson, Secretary. J. G. Davis, Treasurer; 
John A. Doyle, Solicitor. Directors: W. II. Houseman, 
.1. 1'. Housum, Joseph Davis, Jas. I). llrennan, William 
Kelly, James Fitzpatrick, Harvey Knauer, W. F. Clark. 

Workingmen's Building and Loan Association. 



Chartered July, 1883, serial, meets the third Wednesday 
of each month in Logan Hall, corner Ninth Avenue and 
Twelfth Street. O. P. Bush, President; T. J. Trout, 
Secretary; H. L. Clabaugh, Treasurer; John A. Doyle, 
Solicitor. Directors: II. K. Filler, A. C. Hammaker, 
Miles Moran, Djnnis Sullivan, AuUin Siim.'r, Wesley 
Downs, W. S. Lingenlelter, P. F\ Barkdoll, Anthony 
Bender. 

The Pennsylvania Building and Loan Associa- 
tion of Altoona, Pa., is operated as a National, although 
its charter does not differ materially f ro n the Local As- 
sociations. The office is at 1108 Twelfth Avenue. C. 
McMahon, Jr., President: J. D. Hicks, Secretary; D. J. 
Neff, Solicitor; T. J. Sefton, Business Manager. 

The Keystone State Savings and Loan Associa- 
tion of Altoona, Pa. is similar to the Pennsylvania, 
and its home office is in the Mateer Building. In their 
annual report for the second year ending July 31, 1895, 
they report total receipts $56,598.31, and loans outstand- 
ing on real estate security $38,500.00 and on stock secur- 
ity $2,550.00. H. E. Ferguson, President; G. W. Harp- 
ham, Secretary and Manager; Craig & Bowers, Solicitors. 



Schedule of Building and Loan Association Meeting Nights and Places* 



Third Monday of Each Month, 

Economy Building- and Loan Association in Emerald Hall, corner 

Eighth Avenue and Fifteenth Street. 
Equitable Loan and Building- Association in Logan Hall, corner 

Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 
Logan Loan and Building Association in Alexander's Building 

1226 Eleventh Avenue. 
Mutual Building and Loan Association in Logan Hall, corner 

Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 
Vigilant Building and Loan Association in Wolf's Building, 1312 

Eleventh Avenue. 

Third Tuesday of Each Month, 

Eighth Ward Loan and Building Association in Hope Fire Co. 
Hall, Sixth Avenue and Fourth Street. 

Excelsior Building and Loan Association in Woodcock's Build- 
ing, 1426 Eleventh Avenue. 

Germania Building- and Loan Association in Froshinn" Hall, 
Ninth Avenue between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. 

Home Building and Loan Association in Logan Hall, corner 
Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 

Juniata Building and Loan Association in Wolf's Building, 1313 
Eleventh Avenue. 

Keystone Building- and Loan Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Third Wednesday of Each Month, 

Enterprise Loan and Building Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Union Building and Loan Association in Woodcock's Building, 
1426 Eleventh Avenue. 

Working-men's Building and Loan Association in Logan Hall, 
corner Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 

Third Thursday of Each Month, 

Altoona Building and Loan Association in Woodcock's Build- 
ing. 1426 Eleventh Avenue. 

Fame Loan and Building Association in Alexander's Building- 
1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Teutonia Loan and Building Association in Froshinu Hall, 
Ninth Avenue between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. 



Third Friday of Each Month, 

Independent Building and Loan Association in Logan Hall, 
corner Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 

Model Building and Loan Association in Woodcock's Build- 
ing, 1426 Eleventh Avenue. 

Provident Loan and Building Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Third Saturday of Each Month. 

Fidelity Building, Loan and Savings Association in Logan Hall, 
corner Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 

Franklin Loan and Building Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Jefferson Building and Loan Association in Wolf's Building, 
1313 Eleventh Avenue. 

Fourth Monday of Each Month. 

Blair County Loan and Building Association in Wolf's Building, 

1313 Eleventh Avenue. 
Security Loan andBuilding Association in Woodcock's Building 

1426 Eleventh Avenue. 
Standard Building and Loan Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Fourth Tuesday of Each Month, 
Hope Building and Loan Association in Alexander's Building, 
1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Fourth Wednesday of Each Month, 
Penn Building and Loan Association in Alexander's Building, 

1226 Eleventh Avenue. 
Washington Loan and Building Association in Logan Hall, 
corner Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 

Fourth Thursday of Each Month. 
People's Building and Loan Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Fourth Friday of Each Month, 

Citizens' Building and Loan Association in Alexander's Building, 
1226 Eleventh Avenue. 

Fourth Saturday of Each Month, 

Allegheny Loan and Building Association in Alexander's Build- 
ing-, 1226 Eleventh Avenue. 



56 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 




Table of Building Associations, Stock, Mortgages, Values, Etc, 



ASSOCIATIONS. 



bo D 

.- d 


u v 


5 w 


cc ,4 


ri <i 




3 <H 

« o 


O h£ 


^ C J 


o % 


•z C o 




a a a 




3 3 <D 


& > 


£ « « 



.5 ^ 



! *Si 



Value of Stock 

paid in 

Years. 



5 a 
S a 



Date of latest Annual Report 

from which these facts 

are taken. 



Allegheny, No. 3 $200 

Altoona, No. 3 i 200 

Altoona, Model : ISO 

Blair County 200 

Citizens 200 

Economy 200 

Eighth Ward 200 

Enterprise, No. 2 200 

Equitable 200 

Excelsior : 200 

Fame...., 200 

Fidelity 200 

Franklin 200 

Germania, No. 3 200 

Hope 200 

Home 200 

Independent 200 

*Jeffersoti ' 200 

♦Juniata 200 

Keystone 200 

Logan ' 200 

Muiual ' 200 

*Penn, No. 2 200 

People's 200 

Provident : 200 

Security l 200 

S'andard i 200 

Teutonia I 200 

Union I 200 

Vigilant I 200 

♦Washington, No. 2 : 200 

*Workingmen's 200 

Total 



1,297 
2,349 



20,273-60 
35,409.23 



8 84,900 Six years....® 96.00 6 
151,800 Five years. . . 77.08 6 



1,604 % 


23,997.13 


75,600 


Five years. . . 


76.46 


5 


2,289 


37,308.96 


207,800 


Five years. .. 


77.86 


8 


2,218 y 2 


36,077.27 


133,300 


Five years. .. 


77.38 


5 


2,062 


34,330.03 


162.600 


Five years. . . 


77.46 


8 


3,738 


65,026.69 


427,900 


Five years. .. 


78.77 


14 


2,592 y z 


43,539.26 


232,600 


Five years.. . 


78.21 


9 


3,091 


55,342.69 


276,400 


Five years. . . 


77.56 


8 


4,653 


81,866.73 


479,100 


Five years. . . 


80.01 


11 


3,730 


68,568.99 


374,300 


Five years. .. 


81.01 


13 


898 


12,500.00 


24,500 


Two years. . . 


26.40 


2 


2,324 


46,113.05 


258,800 


Five years. . . 


80.13 


11 


1,391 


21,638.18 


82,000 


Five year's. .. 


78.55 


6 


2,177^ 


48,977.46 


210,700 


Five years. .. 


78.35 


9 


786^ 


11,620.88 


20,700 


Three years . 


40.37 


3 


3,194)4 


62,905,76 


343,000 


Five years. .. 


79.42 


17 


4,33754 


80,604.31 


429,000 


Five years. . . 


77.82 


18 


3,057^ 


47,274.92 


177,500 


Six years. .. . 


97.41 


6 


9&6% 


15,217.18 


36,400 


Three years. 


41.47 


4 


4,468 


72,132.73 


465,800 


Nine years. . 


174.08 


10 


2,908 


45,689.86 


228,200 


Eight years. 


141,15 


8 


3,412,54 


57,036.07 


351,200 


Ten years. . . 


197.28 


10 


3.486 


54,833.13 


205,600 


Seven years. 


120.75 


8 


2,787 


49,327.00 


239,700 
121,600 


Nine years. . 


168.96 


9 


2,109 


30,466.86 


Six years.. . . 


94.90 


6 


2,422 % 


34,162.64 


119,200 


Six years.. . . 


96.34 


6 


2,709 


56,330.34 


217,700 


Nine years. . 


180.35 


12 



January 1, 1896. 

January 31, 1895. 

First year began May, 1895. 

September 30, 1895. 

February 28, 1895. 

First year began Aug., 1895. 

December 14, 1895. 

May 31, 1895. 

May 31, 1895. 

March 31, 1895. 

June 13, 1895. 

July 13, 1895. 

April 13, 1895. 

August 31, 1895. 

July 31. 1895. 

First year began July, 1895. 

January 9, 1896. 

March 31, 1995. 

July 31, 1895. 

March 12, 1895. 

April 8, 1895. 

December 4, 1895. 

December 31, 1895. 

March 14, 1895. 

July 31, 1895. 

January 16, 1896. 

December 31, 1895. 

August 31, 1895. 

First year began August, 1895. 

January 31, 1895. 

May 31, 1895. 

June 30, 1895. 



"2.960", $1,248 570.82 l $6,147,900 



♦Borrowers receive full Value of Share and pay Premium in Monthly Installments. 

From the foregoing- it will be observed that the total number of shares running- is 72,960^, on which there was 
paid during- the year $1,248,570.82, all of which being- loaned again or paid to withdrawing stockholders or on ma- 
tured stock was at once put into circulation again. The aggregate of Mortgages was, by same reports, $6,147,900. 








X X NEWSPAPERS. X X 





j|| HE PRESS of Altoona comprises four daily 
and five weekly newspapers, including weekly 
editions isssued by two of the dailies; in addi- 
tion to which are several monthly publications of minor 
importance and uncertain existence. 

The Tribune, 

The oldest paper in Altoona, occupies its own building-, 
a fine three story brick, on Twelfth Street between Elev- 
enth and Twelfth Avenues. It was established January 
1, 1856, by E. B. McCrum & W. M. Allison. The interest 
of W. M. Allison was purchased May 1, 1858, by H. C. 
Deru and July 19, 1875, Dr. Hugh Pitcairn of Harris- 
burg- came into possession of the other half interest, 
since which time the firm has been as it is now, Dern & 
Pitcairn. Mr. Dern, the senior member and manag-er of 
the business, residing- here and g-iving- it his entire time 
and personal attention. Since February 1, 1881, Wesley 
H. Schwartz has been editor. 

The Tribune was a weekly publication from its in- 
ception and is now published daily and weekly and has 
a large circulation in the city and county, as well as 
adjoining counties. The weekly is issued Thursdays and 
thedaily every morning in the year except Sundays. 
The daily issue was first begun April 14, 1873, and con- 
tinued to April 14, 1875, when it was suspended until 
January 28, 1S78, since which time the daily publication 
has been continuous. There has been no break in the 
publication of the weekly Tribune since its beginning in 
1856. The Tribune \% Republican in politics and has always 
been an earnest advocate of the principle of that party. 

As a matter of history it may be stated that the first 
publication attempted in Altoona was a weekly paper 
established by Wm. H. and J. A. Snyder, who brought 
to the then new Borough, the press and type formerly 
used in the publication of the Standing Stone Banner 
of Huntingdon. They started a paper in the Spring of 
1S55 and called it the Altoona Register, but it failed 
after a few months, and the material being purchased 
by McCrum & Allison was used by them in starting the 
Tribune. 

The Mirror 

Is the second paper in Altoona in point of age, having 
been first issued June 13, 1874, by Harry Slep and Geo. 
J. Akers. It was then a four-column penny daily, but 
was soon after enlarged and after a second enlargement, 
the price was raised to two cents. In November, 1877, 
Harry Slep became sole proprietor, but soon afterward, 
on account of ill health, he sold the paper to Bucking- 
ham and Nicodemus, who changed its name to the 
'Evening Call, and under the new name it passed through 



several hands and was published for a number of years 
and finally suspended, about 1884. In 1888, Harry Slep 
and Will H. Slep. his son, began the publication again, 
issuing a four page six column paper everv wee-kday 
evening; it has been enlarged several times until at 
present it is an eight page six column paper at the low 
price of one cent per copy or twenty-five cents per month. 
The paper has a liberal advertising patronage and a 
sworn circulation of over 5,000 copies per day. The 
office and publishing house of the Mirror is located in 
its own building at No. 1014 Eleventh Avenue. 

The Times 

Is the leading Democratic newspaper of Central Penn- 
sylvania and is published every morning- except Sunday 
at No. 1226 Eleventh Avenue by Potter, Greer, Kelly & 
Co. It is a well conducted paper, full of local and gen- 
eral news and having the latest telegraphic reports. 

The Times was established in 1884 by Frank McClain, 
F. E. McCullough and H. A. McPike, under the name of 
The Times Publishing Company. Mr. McPike was a 
former Cambria County editor with an established repu- 
tation there as a good newspaper man, and it was ex- 
pected that he would make the paper a brilliant success 
from the start. Mr. McCullough had had considerable 
experience as a local reporter and Mr. McClain was the 
capitalist. The office was on Fourteenth Street between 
Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues for several years and 
then on Eleventh Avenue between Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth Streets, from whence it was moved to its present 
location when sold by The Times Publishing Co. Mr. 
McPike failing to achieve the success with a city paper 
that had attended him in Ebensburg, one W. H. Zeller 
was employed to wield the editorial pen and Mr. McPike 
went to the composing room. Later John W. Scott was 
editor, and for several years past Charles J. Wehrle has 
held that position. 

McClain and McCullough sold out to George F. Fresh 
in 1887 and the latter and Mr. McPike were the mem- 
bers of the company until November 27, 1891, when they 
sold out to D. L. Potter, J. B. Stahl, J. B. Sansom and 
C. A. Greer who, under the firm name of Potter, Stahl 
& Co., continued the publication of the Times. In June, 
1895, Messrs. Stahl and Sansom disposed of their inter- 
ests to P. H. Kelly and J. A. Lawver, and the firm name 
was changed to Potter, Greer, Kelly & Co., as it now is. 

The Times issued a weekly in addition to the daily 
until purchased by Potter, Stahl & Co. who discontinued 
it. The first issue of the daily Times was May 21, 1884, 
and of the weekly June 19, 1884. This paper had no 
connection with the Evening Times, a paper started by 
Jacob B. Smith a short time before and sold out after a 
brief existence. 



Xalkin 

IN 



# 



HAT'S WHAT the Board of Trade is doing in this book, 
and it is the best means of making the work of such an 
organization thoroughly effective. Going into print 
proclaims abroad the importance and advantages of a city. And 
so the importance, in the business world, of the individuals often 
measured by his talking in type. The character of the printed 
matter sent out reflects the character of the sender. We would 
like to put your talk into type for you. Our presses have been 
making overtime lately, but we don't mind that. There is some 
talk of a dull season, and we don't want that to catch us. Let 
our types talk for you. The job can't be too large or too small for us to handle. 
Anything from a Visiting Card to a Three-sheet Poster means a lot in this day 
of specialties, but our range of work covers all that. It is a real pleasure to 
write under our Note, Letter and Bill Heads, and a pleasure to find how little 
they cost. Our Cards insure you a cordial reception. Circulars and Booklets 
printed by us demand a perusal. Our Envelopes never find their way to the 
dead letter office. Our Legal Blanks are correct in form — all kinds in stock. 
If you talk in big type, our Dodgers and Posters come quick and cheap. In the 
Book Line, we are a bit proud of some of the records we have made. If you 
have a book or brief you want in a hurry — and right — ask us how soon we 
can ff et it out. & fy 3*#3*3*3*3#<$*<% 



# 



Die • Gazette • (on)pan2 



i Opposite Gable & Co's, 



1325 Eleventh Avenue, 



Of Course S/ou Jfnow We Jfcave T^oueci, 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



59 



The Gazette, 

This, the latest comer in the journalistic Held of Al- 
tooua is the successor of the old Altoona Sun, which 
was published for more than a score of years, beginning 
in 1870 and set finally when the Gazette was started. 

The Gazetteis owned and published by the Gazette 
Publishing Company, an incorporated company, of which 
the principal members are: P. (). Bell and his sons, 
Warner H. and W. Frank Bell. The Gazette was first 
issued April S, 1892, the office and printing rooms being 
at loos Green Avenue, which was its location until 
November 1, 1895, when it was moved to 1325 Eleventh 
Avenue, to a building especially remodeled and recon- 




Pennsylvania Railroad Company Machine Shops — Wheel Shop, 
structed for its use. The Gazette is strongly Republican 
in politics and is a good newspaper, well filled with the 
latest local and general new-s. It is published daily, 
every evening except Sunday, and a weekly edition is 
also issued every Friday for out-of-town readers. 

Der Deutsche Volksfuhrer 

Is a weekly German newspaper, published every Friday 
by L. G. Lamade, editor and proprietor. The office and 
printing- rooms are at 612 Twelfth Street. This is the 
most influential German newspaper in Central Pennsyl- 
vania and is read by nearly all the German people in this 
section of the State. The Volksfuhrer was estab- 



lished in March, 1S78, by Harry Slep, who sold it to the 
present proprietor in March, 1881. In politics it is Dem- 
ocratic, though not so radical as to be in any sense an 
organ. 

The Independent Loyal American 

Is owned and edited by Rev. W. W. Dunmire, and is in- 
tensely patriotic and anti-Roman Catholic. It is the 
official organ of the Loyal Legion of America. The 
office and printing house is at 1019 Sixteenth Avenue. 
It is published weekly —Saturdays. It was first started 
in June 8th, 1885, as the Evening Independent and 
during the palmy days of the Knights of Labor had an 
immense daily circulation; the office then being at the 
rear of 1224 Eleventh Avenue. The change of 
name to Independent Loyal American was made 
early in 1893, and the daily issue discontinued in 
October 21, 1893. 

The News, 

This is a Sunday paper and is owned and pub- 
lished by the News Publishing Company. The 
office and printing rooms are at 816 Twelfth Street. 
W. B. Hicks, a member of the firm and son of Con- 
gressman J. D. Hicks, has recently assumed the 
management of the paper, vice H. U. Tibbens, 
resigned. 

The News is a live paper and is likely to be a 
permanent institution under the present manage- 
ment. It aims to give a complete weekly resume 
of the local news of the city, as well as the latest 
general news up to the time of going to press Sun- 
day morning. 

The News is the legitimate successor of the 
Sunday News and the Sunday Graphic (earlier 
the Sunday Morning), which were combined as the 
Sunday Graphic-News by the late Homer Vaughan, 
in March, 1888. 

The Sunday News was first issued by Mr. 
Vaughan, October 19, 1884, the press work being 
done at a job office for several years. In March, 
1888, the Sunday Graphic, established by Jacob 
Smith and others in 1881, edited by Mrs. Mattie 
Furey and first called the Sunday Morning, was- 
merged with The News, and, under the title Sunday 
Graphic-News — Homer Vaughan, editor — was pub- 
lished until the death of Mr. Vaughan in August, 
1889. 
Soon afterward the paper was purchased by W. J. 
Hamor, now City Clerk, who edited and published 
it until February, 1893; the office being located at 831 
Eighth Avenue. Mr. Hamor leased the material Feb- 
ruary, 1893, to T. S. Fettinger, who managed the paper 
for a year, after which the outfit was purchased by J. 
D. Hicks, Esq., J. S. El way and H. M. Stover, who 
formed a stock company, changed the name of the 
paper to the News and removed it to its present loca- 
tion. After all these vicissitudes the News probably 
combines all the good qualities of its several prede- 
cessors, emulating their virtues and eschewing their 
errors. 



60 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



Besides these existing- publications there are a num- 
ber of others which live in memory only — over whose 
untimely graves 

" no mourners weep — 

No marble shaft is reared." 

Among- these memories of the past are: 

The Altoona Sun, daily and weekly, which was first 
established under the name of the Altoona Vindicator, 
by James F. Campbell, May 1, 1868, and was purchased 
December 10, 1869, by D. W. Moore, who changed the 
name to the Sun. On May 2, 1870, the Sun beg-an a 
daily issue and was the first daily ever published in 
Altoona. The time was not ripe, however, for a success- 
ful daily paper here, and after running for seven months 
the daily was discontinued. The Sun as a weekly paper 
passed throug-h several hands and was not a financial 
success until purchased by the Barclay brothers — X. C. 
and Cyrus N., May 10, 1871. In 1879 the Barclays 
associated with themselves a number of prominent Dem- 
ocratic citizens and formed the Sun Printing- and Pub- 
lishing Company, for the purpose of publishing a Dem- 
ocratic daily in connection with the weekly Sun. This 
company began publishing the Altoona Daily Sun on 
December 11, 1879. The stock company arrangement 
was not satisfactory nor of long duration and March 17, 
1881, the paper and outfit was sold at public sale and 
purchased by the Barclay brothers, who continued the 
publication of the weekly in the old Opera House build- 
ing until 1887 when they moved the printing office to 
their new building on Green Avenue. The Altoona 
Weekly Sun shed its last beams across the social horizon 
April 1, 1892, and simultaneously the Gazette was estab- 
lished and issued from the same press — N. C. Barclay 
and his sons being large stockholders in the new com- 
pany. 

The Blair County Radical, of which James H. Irwin 
was the leading spirit and for the greater part of the 
time owner, manager and editor, was first published at 
Hollidavsburg and was removed to Altoona in the sum- 



mer of 1868. It flourished herewith more or less success 
'till 1889 when the sheriff of Blair County took forcible 
possession of it and sold the type and presses, then pretty 
well worn out, to E. W. H. Kreider for a nominal sum, 
throwing the good will and subscription list into the 
bargain. The office, then in the Arcade Building, was 
disintegrated and the Radical slept the sleep that knows 
no waking. 

The Evening Call was another paper published daily, 
weekly and Sunday for several years and then Call-ed 
hence. It was started as the Evening Mirror by Harry 
Slep and George J. Akers, June 13, 1874, being a penny 
paper, published every evening except Sunday. Novem- 
ber 16, 1877, Harry Slep became sole owner and Decem- 
ber 1, 1878, sold the paper to W. K. Buckingham and 
W. S. Nicodemus, who changed its name to the Demo- 
cj-atic Call. Soon after its name was changed to the 
Evening Call, and after some vicissitudes of fortune 
and changes of ownership, it was purchased by E. B. 
Haines, January 1, 1880. Mr. Haines enlarged the plant, 
bought more type and presses, and issued an evening 
daily, also a weekly and a Sunday paper. He secured a 
large subscription list, considerable advertising patron- 
age and for a time was immensely successful until he 
began to antagonize the Pennsylvania Railroad officials 
and his star waned. The soil of Altoona would no 
longer support the Call and its proprietor betook himself 
and paper to a distant city. The last issue in Altoona 
was about 1884. 

The Altoona Chronicle, a weekly newspaper, was an- 
other journalistic venture that proved unprofitable to its 
projectors. E. C. Maun and E. D. Kendig, two young 
men, clerks in the Railroad Company's offices, who 
thought the mantle of a Greeley or a Bennett had fallen 
on them, resigned their lucrative positions, purchased 
type and began the publication of the Altoona Chronicle 
in 1881. They had the press work done by another 
office. This paper, which was a creditable sheet and 
well filled with local news, was not a financial success 
and after and existence of ten months, suspended. 



2£ 2£ Altoona City Directories, J3C ^C 




OT THE least important among the publica- 
tions of a flourishing city are the directories 
that appear annually or biennially, giving the 
names, residences and occupations of the inhabitants 
and the places and kinds of business carried on. Altoona 
has had six director} 7 publishers and thirteen directories 
up to the present time. 

The first directory of the city was published by Thos. 
H. Greevy, Esq., in 1873, and he issued a second one in 
1875. Mr. Greevy having entered into the practice of 
the law did not continue his publication, and one Wil- 
liam H. Renner issued the third one in 1878. He left 



the city before it was time for another, and in 1880 
W. S. Webb, of New York City, published the fourth one; 
following it in 1832 with the fifth. Mr. Webb did not 
return after 1882, and the Fierstein Brothers, A. J. and 
A. W., resident printers, undertook the work and pub- 
lished a directory in 1884. They intended to issue a 
second one in 1886, but C. B. Clark, then beginning the 
practice of law, and finding more leisure than money in 
it at first, essayed to become a literary man as well as a 
lawyer, and undertook the publication. Being in the 
field before the Fierstines were ready, he carried it 
through to a successful termination, and the book, which 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



61 



was onc-forth larger than any former one, was is- 
sued in May, 1886. Since that time he has been 
the regular resident directory publisher, issuing- a 
new edition in June 1888, June 1890, September 
1891, October 1893, and July 1895. 

In 1892 the Gazette Company issued a count} 7 
directory which, as it made Altoona the main fea- 
ture, may be regarded as an Altoona directory for 
that year. The directory published by Mr. Renner 
was considered the best of all that proceeded Clark's; 
and Clark's directory is the most complete and com- 
prehensive work of the kind published in any city 
Of less than 50,000 inhabitants in the United States. 
Mr. Clark took a careful census of the city for 
each edition except 1891, and the results are 
shown in the census statistics in another part of this 
work. He also added a feature which is asolutely 
new in publications of this kind, viz.: distinguish- 
ing- house holders as renters, and owners — "o. h." 
before the house number denoting - ownership in 
the family and r. h. that the occupants are tenants 
only. 

Each edition has also contained a great deal 
of extra matter, historical and statistical, a com- 
plete classified business directory, the streets 
are fully described and located, the churches 
described and name and residence of pastor 
given. Also, in most of them the latest official 
list of postoffices in Pennsylvania. The edition of 
18S6 was 300 copies, and each year the number 
was increased until 1895, when 545 books were 
printed. 




Pennsylvania Railroad — Machine Shops — Interior of Lathe Shop. 



2£ 2£ Altoona City Street Paving* 2£ 2£ 




H NTIL about the year 1872 the streets of Altoona 
were much as nature left them, excepting the 
little improvement made by shallow ditches at 
the side and the dirt thrown up in the middle, with the 
addition of some broken stone in places, after the man- 
ner of country roads. Although the burgess — in 1859. — 
advertised for bids for macadamizing Eleventh and 
Eighth Avenues, very little was done, but a special act of 
legislature, approved April 10, 1873, authorized the city 
to issue $150,000 of permanent improvement bonds, with 
which to pay for sewers and improve the streets. Part 
of this money was expended shortly afterwards in 
macadamizing Eighth and Eleventh Avenues, the for- 
mer between Ninth and Seventeenth Streets and the 
latter between Eleventh and Seventeenth Streets. This 



improvement was of brief duration, the broken stone 
were soon pulverized and mixed with earth, so that in a 
few years these streets were extremely muddy and almost 
impassable in wet weather — mud often being six inches 
to a foot deep on parts of Eleventh Avenue, the princi- 
pal business street. The city would not assume the cost 
of good pavements and the expense was so great that 
property owners hesitated long before deciding to under- 
take it. In 1889, however, a good asphalt block pave- 
ment was put down on Eleventh Avenue from Eleventh 
to Bridge Streets, and Eighth Avenue from Seventh to 
Fifteenth Streets, and the benefits of such paving were so 
apparent that other property owners on other streets 
and avenues soon followed the example, and a great deal 
of paving was done during that and the following years. 



62 



*<t »%, 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X 



The Subjoined Table shows the Streets and Avenues that have been Paved to the present time, 
with the Distance Paved, Kind of Pavement and Cost : 



Year 

*1888 

1889 

1889 

1893 

*1889 

*1889 

1890 

18S9 

1890 

1891 

1889 

*1889 

*18S9 

*1889 

*1889 

1889 

1890 

1889 

1889 

1890 

1889 

*188'9 

1890 

1890 

■*1889 

1890 

1893 

1891 

1891 

*1891 

1891 

1891 

1892 

1892 

1893 

1894 

1893 

1894 

1894 

1895 

1895 



Location. 



Twelfth Street, Teiith Avenue to Eleventh Avenue 

Twelfth Street, Twelfth Alley to Fourteenth Avenue 

Twelfth Street, Fourteenth to Fifteenth Avenue 

Twelfth Street, Twelfth Avenue to Twelfth Alley 

Twelfth Street, Eleventh to Twelfth Avenue. ., 

Thirteenth Street, Tenth to Eleventh Avenue 

Thirteenth Street, Twelfth to Sixteenth Avenue 

Eleventh Avenue, Eleventh Street to Bridge Street 

Eleventh Avenue, Seventh to Eleventh Street 

Eleventh Avenue, Southwest of Bridge Street 

Eleventh Street, Eleventh to Chestnut Avenue 

Eleventh Street. Tenth to Eleventh Avenue 

Tenth Avenue, Eleventh to Twelfth Street.. 

Tenth Avenue, Thirteenth to Fourteenth Street 

Twelfth Avenue, Twelfth to Thirteenth Street 

Twelfth Avenue, Eleventh to Twelfth Street 

Twelfth Avenue. Thirteenth to Sixteenth Street 

Green Avenue, Seventh to Eleventh Street 

Eighth Avenue Seventh to Fifteenth Street 

Eighth Avenue, Fifteenth to Twenty-fourth Street 

Chestnut Avenue, Seventh to Eleventh Street 

Seventh Street, Eleventh Avenue to Green Avenue 

Seventh Avenue, Second to Seventeenth Street 

Fourteenth Avenue, Eleventh to Thirteenth Street 

Eleventh Alley, Southwest of Twelfth Street 

Eleventh Alley between Eleventh and Thirteenth Street 

Eleventh Alley, Thirteenth to Fourteenth Street 

Sixth Avenue, Second to Fifteenth Street 

Seventeenth Street, Eighth Avenue to near P. R. R 

Seventeenth Street, near Bridge Street 

Bridge Street, Eleventh Avenue to P. R. R 

Tenth Alley, Eleventh to Twelfth Street 

Tenth Alley, Thirteenth to Fourteenth Street 

Thirteenth Avenue, Eleventh to Twelfth Street 

Ninth Street, Eleventh to Chestnut Avenue 

Ninth Street, Chestnut Avenue to Sixteenth Avenue 

Green Alley, Tenth to Eleventh Street 

Margaret Avenue, Seventeenth Street to Union Avenue. . 
Broad Avenue, Union Avenue to Twenty-seventh Street. . 
Fourteenth Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. 
Tenth Alley between Fourteenth and Thirteenth Streets. . 



285.0 
490.7 
267.0 
130.5 
275.5 

257.3 ■ 
1,148.1 ' 
2,241.0 
1,390.0 

40.0 

495.0 

247.3 

455.0 

341.7 i 

453.3 

407.5 

1,220.1 

1,405.0 

3,311.0 

3,171.3 

1,309.0 

160.0 

6,040.0 

844.2 

212.5 

599.0 ; 

401.9 

5,457.6 

1,227.1 

379.0 

291.0 

400.0 

402.8 

- 399.7 

431.4 

1,305.2 

326.4 

1,215.2 

2,811.4 

238.7 

457.4 ; 

42.951.8 



Kind of Pavement. 

Asphalt Block 

Asphalt Block 

Cobble Stone 

Asphalt Block 

Asphalt Block 

Asphalt Block 

Asphalt Block, and Vitrified Brick 

Asphalt Block 

Stone Block 

Stone Block 

Asphalt Block 

Stone Block 

Asphaltum Block and Stone Block.. 

Asphaltum Block 

Stone Block 

Sheet Asphalt 

Sheet Asphalt 

Asphalt Block 

Sheet Asphalt 

Asphalt Block 

Asphalt Block 

Stone Block 

Sheet Asphalt 

Asphalt Block and Vitrified Brick. 

Asphalt Block 

Asphalt Block 

Stone Block 

Sheet Asphalt 

Stone Block 

Stone Block 

Stone Block 

Cobble Stone 

Paving Brick 

Sheet Asphalt 

Paving Brick 

Paving Brick 

Paving Brick 

Sheet Asphalt 

Sheet Asphalt 

Sheet Asphalt 

Sheet Asphalt 



,637.30 
,610.55 

934.70 
,392.00 
,653.10 
,593.81 
,135.13 
,686.04 
,432.60 

426.50 
,347.70 
,048.95 
,331.45 
,689.20 
,384.00 
,921.77 
,737.50 
,420,50 
,917.96 
,633.61 
,408.50 

613.08 
,795.73 
,002.46 
,027.18 
,769.50 
,512.45 
;,383.66 
i,383.97 
,338.12 
,,062.61 

800.00 
,361.64 
,008.00 
:,150.94 
,357.90 
,216.90 
',118.70 
,679.89 
;,113.95 
,959.77 



$361,999.32 



* Put down by Pennsylvania Railroad Company and at their own cost. 



Table showing total amount of paving in streets of Altoona 
to December 31, 1895, with number of square yards and cost 
per yard s 



Kind of Pavement. 



Total Length 



Sheet Asphalt on 6-inch , , 
Concrete Foundation, ) i 

Asphalt Block : 12669 4-5 

Stone Block 5000 

Vitrified Brick ] 3056 1-3 

Cobble Stone I 667 




The necessary ordinances have been passed for the 
paving- of Union Avenue from Eighteenth Street to 



Broad Avenue, and Washing-ton Avenue from Sixteenth 
Street to city limits northwest, and this will be done 
early in the summer of 1896, together with a number of 
other streets and avenues now being prepared for it. As 
there are more than one hundred miles of streets in the 
city it is evident that the paving business is likely to be 
good here for several years to come, and the paving com- 
panies who secure contracts, will, while reaping a profit 
for themselves, confer a benefit on the community by 
improving the streets. The sheet asphalt, although ex- 
pensive, is most desirable on level streets and vitrified 
brick is preferable where there is much grade; while 
the concrete blocks are very convenient if it is to be torn 
up for the purpose of laying water or gas pipe. 



J. BANKS KURTZ, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

.Rooms 5 and 6, Schenk Block, Cor. Eleventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street, 

ALTOONA, PENNA. 

EDWIN M AMIES, 



ATTORNEY AT LAW, 



1324 Eleventh Avenue, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



Loans, Collections, General Practice 



MCNEIL, HEINSLING & MADDEN, 

ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELLORS AT LAW, 

Nicholson Building, Altoona. Pa. 

H. G. STOVER, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

Rooms 6 and 7. Nicholson Building, - ALTOONA. PENNA. 

W. H. BRIDENBAUGH, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

1425 Eleventh Avenue, Nicholson Building. - ALTOONA, PA. 

Solicitor for Provident Building and Loan Association, 

JOHN A. DOYLE, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 



nd 2, Schenk Block, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



WILLIAM L. HAMMOND, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 



DISTRICT ATTORNEY. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



THOS. C. HARE, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 



John K. Patterson, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

Rooms 10 and n, Masonic Temple, - - - ALTOONA, PA. 

Solicitor for Eighth Ward and Independent Building and Loan Associations. 

Morrow & Culp, 
attorneys at law, 

Mateer Building, Third Floor, - - - ALTOONA, PA. 

Wm. B. Manley, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

Cor. Twelfth Avenue and Eleventh Street, ALTOONA, PA. 

Solicitor for Security Building and Loan Association. 

D. Clare Good, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

1325 Eleventh Avenue. ... - ALTOONA, PA. 

Specialty in Examination of Titles to Real Estate. 

W. Frank Maughn, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

1224 Eleventh Avenue, - - - ALTOONA, PA. 

Solicitor for Home Building and Loan Association. 

F. M. McCullough, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW AND NOTARY PUBLIC, 

Room 10, Masonic Temple, .... ALTOONA, PA. 

Andrew S. Fisher, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

1307 Eleventh Avenue; Residence, 1012 Green Avenue. - ALTOONA, PA. 

Book Accounts and Other Collections Made. Prompt and Careful Attention 

- Given to All Business. ""'" 

Robert A. Henderson, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 



Schenk Block, 



ALTOONA, PA. 63 Room S, Schenk Block, 



ALTOONA, PA. 




X THE SEWERS OF ALTOONA, 



:■: Mi as °G as S/s MS MS M;" m:s w m;s as. as ax :!■;: :.(: :.'': 



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F THE earlier sewers constructed in the city 
a very imperfect record was kept, but it is be- 
lieved that the first was in 1870, on Eleventh 
Avenue; Fifteenth Street to Thirteenth Street to Tenth 
Avenue. A Citizens' Committee of forty-eight — equally 
divided between the two great political parties — twenty- 
four Republicans and twenty-four Democrats, whose 
authority to act was conferred by a mass meeting' of the 
the citizens held in the autumn of 1882, and whose 
duties were to investigate municipal affairs generally, 
gave the matter of sewers in charge of a sub-committee 
consisting of the following business men, viz.: J. h- 
Metzger, J. N. Shillito, Michael Poet, James C. Hughes, 
Michael Stover, George F. Jackson and H. J. Cornman, 
who after a careful and laborious search of all the offi- 
cial and semi-official records of the city, and from such 
private sources as were accessible, made an elaborate 
and thorough report thereon, which was adopted June 



5th, 1883, by the Citizens' Committee as a whole. I Q 
this report they gave an exhaustive resume of all the 
sewers built prior to 1882. From that report we copy 
verbatim the location, size, length and cost of all the 
sewers constructed in the city up to that period. 

Thirteenth Street and Eleventh Avenue Sewer 
— This is a circular brick sewer, constructed in 1870 by 
D. K. Ramey & Son, from Tenth Avenue to Eleventh 
Avenue on Thirteenth Street, it is three feet in diameter 
and cost $3.60 per foot. From the corner of Eleventh 
Avenue and Thirteenth Street to Fourteenth Street it is 
two and one-half feet in diameter, and cost $3.20 per 
foot. From Fourteenth Street to its terminus near Fif- 
teenth Street it is one and one-half feet in diameter and 
cost $2.10 per foot. It empties into the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company's sewer under the tracks opposite the 
corner of Thirteenth Street and Tenth Avenue. The 
length is about 1,100 feet and it cost $4,125.20. 




Altoona Gas Company — View of Main Building Looking East. 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. A 



65 



Eighth 'Avenue 
Sewkk, from J Ninth 
•to Twelfth Street — 
This is a 20-inch brick 
sewer, 1,320 feet lon«;; 
contract let to James 
Malone, September 19, 
1871, at $2.00 per foot. 
Total cost, including 
inlets, 3,066.70. 

Fi kst and Third 
Wakd Sewers This 
is a 36-inch brick sewer, 
beginning" on Tenth 
Avenue atNinth Street, 
extending- up Nint-h 
Street to Eleventh 
Avenue, up Eleventh 
Avenue to Eleventh 
Street, up Eleventh 
Street to Twelfth 
Avenue, up Twelfth 
Avenue to Twelfth 
Street, up Twelfth 
Street to Fourteenth 
Avenue, up Fourteenth 
Avenue to Thirteenth 
Street, up Thirteenth Street one half square to a point 
opposite the public school building-; total length, 2,657 
feet. Contract awarded to Jas. Malone in 1872, price $3.20 
per foot. Total cost, including- inlets and taps, $9,365.99. 

Ninth Street Sewer, West Side — This is brick 
sewer forty-two inches in diameter, built by James 





Altoona Gas Company — Condensing and Scrubbing Room. 



Altoona Gas Company — Retort Room. 

Malone under contract made in 1872. It extends from 
Eleventh Avenue and Ninth Street up Ninth Street 1,700 
feet to near Plack's tannery [between Howard and Fair- 
view Avenues, the tannery now removed]. Contract 
price $3.80 per lineal foot; total cost, including inlets, 
$6,460. 

Fifteenth and 
Twenty-fourth St., 
or SixthWard Sewer 
—This is a 30x60 inch 
brick sewer, beginning 
at Seventh Avenue and 
Fifteenth Street and 
extending down Sev- 
enth Avenue to Twen- 
tieth Street, down 
Twentieth Street to 
Sixth Avenue and on 
Sixth Avenue to Twen- 
ty-fourth St. Length 
3,378^ feet ; built by 
Campbell Bros, in 1873; 
price S6.50 per foot. 
Total cost, including 
inlets, $23,123.00 

Seventh Avenue 
Sewer from Twelfth 
to Fifteenth Street 
— This is a 30-inch 
brick sewer, built by 
James Malone, under 
contract dated July 13, 
1874; length 1,310 feet; 



66 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



price per foot, SI. 98. 
Total cost, including 
inlets and extra brick 
work, $3,1-61.30. 

Second and Eighth 
Wakd Sewer — This is 
a brick sewer, elliptical 
in form, 5x7 feet and 
3,309 feet long-. It ex- 
ends from the eastern 
city limits along- town- 
ship road and through 
vacant lots (since built 
up) to Seventh Alley 
near Fifth Street; 
thence up Seventh 
Alley to Sixth Street; 
thence diagonally across 
private property to 
Eighth Avenue, about 
100 feet east of Eighth 
Street, and along 
Eighth Ave. to Ninth 
Street. Campbell Bros, 
were the contractors. 
Seven dollars per lineal 
foot the price, and $24,- 

495.10 the total cost, including inlets. It was built in 
1873-74. Several suits for damages to property along 
this sewer were maintained against the city and judg- 
mente obtained, aggregating SI, 027. 50. 

Chestnut Avenue Sewer — This is a brick sewer 
extending- along- Chestnut Avenue from Ninth to 





Altoona Gas Company — Station Meters where all the Gas made is Measured. 



Altoona Gas Company — Purifying Room, 

Eleventh Street. Diameter 20 inches, length 747 feet, 
price per foot Si. 70. Total cost, including inlets, $1,- 
452.52; built 1874. Stonebraker and Paup, contractors. 
Eleventh Avenue Sewer, from Fifteenth to- 
beyond Sixteenth Street — This is a 20-inch brick 
sewer, extending along Eleventh Avenue from Fifteenth 

Street westward 410 
feet. It was built in 
1874 by W. H. Durbor- 
row, at S2 per foot and; 
S20 for inlets. Total 
cost SI, 096.10. 

Twelfth Avenue 
Sewer from Four- 
teenth to Sixteenth 
Streets — This is a 
twenty and 30-inch 
brick sewer extending 
along Twelfth Avenue 
from Fourteenth to Six- 
teenth Street, a dis- 
tance of 780 feet. Con- 
structed in 1874 by 
Stonebraker and Paup, 
contractors, at SI. 65 
and $2.20 per foot; in;- 
letsS20.00. Total cost 
61,913.15. 

Sixteenth Street 
Sewer from Eleventh 
to Twelfth Avenues. 
This is a 36-inch brick 
sewer extending up Six- 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



67 



teenth Street from Eleventh to Twelfth Avenues, and 
was constructed under contract awarded to James Ma- 
lone, September 11, 1874; price, S2.25 per foot; length, 
278 feet; total cost, including- inlets, $635.75. 

Sixteenth Street Sewer, from Tenth to Elev- 
enth AVENUES This is a 36-inch brick sewer, 338 feet 
long-, built in 1894 by W. II. Durborrow, at $3.00 per 
lenial foot; total cost, 31,014. 

Twelfth Street Sewer, between Eighth and 
Ninth Avenues This is a 12-inch terra cotta sewer, 
275 feet in length, built in 1874 by W. II. Durborrow, at 
$1.40 per foot; total cost, $389.00. 

Ninth StrEST Sewer, from Eighth to Ninth 
A.VENUES This is a brick sewer (size not given, but is 
si.\ feet in diameter), extending from Eighth to Ninth 
Avenues along- Ninth Street, built in 1874 by Patrick 
Kelly, contractor; length, 325 feet; price per foot, $6.70; 
total cost, including inlets, $2,254.50. 

Sixth Avenue Sewer, from Seventeenth to Twen- 
tieth Streets- This is a 20-inch brick sewer extending 
along- Sixth Avenue, from Seventeenth to Twentieth 
Streets, constructed in 1874 by James Malone, at $1.87 
per foot; leng-th, 997 feet; total cost, including inlets 
and extra work, $2,214.64. 

Fifteenth Street Sewer, from Eighth to Sev- 
enth Avenues This is a 30-inch brick sewer 310 feet 
long-; constructed in 1874 by James Malone at $2.00 per 
foot; total cost, S620, and extras $200. 

Eighth Avenue Sewer, Twelfth to Fifteenth 
STREETS — This is a 20-inch brick sewer built in 1874; 
length, 1,300 feet; Drumgold Brothers, contractors; 
price, $1.97 per foot; inlets, $25; total cost, $2,600. 

Eighth Avenue Sewer, between Seventeenth 
and Twenty-Fourth Streets — This is a brick sewer 
(size not given, but is 24 to 30 inches), built in 1879 by 
Patrick Kelly. (Length and cost per foot not given, but 
about 2,500 feet long; total cost, $4,116.90. 

Eleventh Alley Sewer, between Fourteenth 
and Fifteenth Streets — This is a 12-inch terra-cotta 
pipe sewer, about 450 feet long, built by the city by day 
laborers in charge of Street Commissioner Atkinson. 
Total cost of labor and material $234.15. 

Green Avenue Sewer, between Ninth and 
Eleventh Streets — This is a terra cotta sewer (size 
not given, but is 20 inches in diameter), completed 
August 9, 1879, by Patrick Kelly at $1.35 per foot; 
length, 565 feet; total cost, $762.75. 

Green Alley Sewer, from Tenth to Eleventh 
Streets — This is a 12-inch terra cotta pipe sewer 500 
feet long put in by D. Wylie, in 1879, at 67 cents per 
foot; cost, $335. 

Seventeenth Street Sewer— This is a 20 and 24- 
inch brick sewer (length and price per foot not given, 
but is about 950 feet long), constructed in 1S80 by 
Patrick Kelly. It extends from Eighth Avenue along 
Seventeenth Street to John McCormick's corner (near P. 
R. R. tracks). Total cost, $2,592. 

Eighteenth Street Sewer — This is a 42-inch brick 
sewer (size not given by committee) extending along 
Eighteenth Street from Union Avenue to Thirteenth 



Avenue about 900 feet; completed in 1881 by Patrick 
Kelly; no rate per foot given; contract price for the en- 
tire work $4,752, but the actual cost to the city when 
completed was $5,414.82. 

Sixteenth Street and Union Avenue Sewer — 
This is a brick sewer 30 inches in diameter on Sixteenth 
Street and 36 inches on Union Avenue, but the commit- 
tee's report does not give these facts. They give its 
length from Thirteenth Avenue down Sixteenth Street 
to Union Avenue and down Union Avenue to Eighteenth 
Street as 1,850 feet. J. R. Vaughn lowest bidder, Octo- 
ber 17th, 1881, at 31.90 per foot, the inference being 
that he built it soon afterward. The cost, they state, 
was $3,665, including six inlets, at $25 each. 

Eleventh Avenue Sewer, Eleventh to Twelfth 
Streets — This is a 24-inch terra cotta pipe sewer put in 
by David Wylie and completed September 17, 1881, at a 
cost of $769.54; length, about 400 feet. 

Green Avenue and Eighth Street Sewer — This 
is a 24-inch brick sewer, as shown on the city 
sewer map, but the committee was silent on this 
point. They say that on November 2, 1881, bids were 
received by Council for constructing a sewer down Green 
Avenue from Ninth Street to Eighth Street, and up 
Eighth Street to Howard Avenue, and the contract was 
let to Storm & Kelly at $1.40 per lenial foot, and $20 for 
inlets; that the cost was $1,789.20 for 1,278 feet, at 
$1.40, and 3100 for five inlets, at $20; total cost, 
$1,889.20. 

Thirteenth Street Sewer — This is a 24 and 30- 
inch brick sewer extending up Thirteenth Street from a 
point between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Avenues, the 
head of a sewer of earlier construction, along Thirteenth 
Street to the center of Seventeenth Avenue, as shown on 
the map previously referred to, but whether brick or 
terra cotta is not noted. The committee in their re- 
port say a sewer was constructed in this street by Storm 
& Kelly at $1.75 per foot and $20 for inlets, and gives 
the length as 797 feet, and cost $1,275.20, plus seven in- 
lets, at $20=$140. The contract was let October 17, 
1881. 

McCann Branch of Thirteenth Street Sewer — 
This branch — 24-inch brick — the committee reports was 
authorized by the Committee of Councils on Permanent 
Improvements December 15, 1881, and Storm & Kelly 
directed to construct it at $1.60 per foot; that it was 
built by them soon afterward a distance of 270 feet, at a 
cost of $432. It extends from Thirteenth Street, be- 
tween Fourteenth and Fifteenth Avenues, northwest to 
Seventeenth Alley, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth 
Streets. (P. McCann's property, the principal one bene- 
fitted, hence the name). 

Seventh Avenue and Seventeenth Street Sewer 
— This is a 12-inch terra cotta pipe sewer extending from 
the corner of Seventh Avenue and Seventeenth Street 
along the street to the alley between Seventh and Eighth 
Avenues; it was constructed by men in the service of the 
city, under the supervision of the Street Commissioner. 
It is about 150 feet long- and cost S123.70. 



68 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



Total 



District Sewers. 

For the purpose of sewer con- 
structing and assessment of benefits 
on properties drained to pay the 
cost thereof, the city was in 1888 
divided into four sewer districts 
comprising- natural drainage areas, 
and each district now has one main 
sewer of large capacity constructed 
of brick and stone into which are 
discharged the numerous small 
branches, or local sewers of terra- 
cotta pipe, in the district, except- 
ing some of the old sewers previ- 
ously described. 

The First District includes that 
part of the city northwest of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad, main line, 
between Seventh and Fifteenth 
Streets. 

The Second District includes 
that part of the city southeast of 
-the main line, and from Twelfth 
Street northeast to city limits. 

The Third District comprises 
that part of the city northwest of 
the main line and northeast of 
Seventh Street. 

The Fourth District includes the 
greater part of the city on both 
sides of the railroad southwest of 
the northwest side, and Thirteenth 
east side. 

The First, Second and Third Districts drain natu- 
rally into the Little Juniata River, which, rising in the 
mountains some six or seven miles northwest of the city, 
comes down the Gap to the Juniata Shops, and, turning 
to the left, flows northeastward toward Bellwood and 
Tyrone. The Fourth District drains into Dry Gap Run, 
the course of which is from its source three or four miles 
northwest of the city down the Dry Gap, entering the 
city about at the intersection of Eighteenth Avenue and 
Nineteenth Streets. (They are not opened through at 
this point). From here it follows the line of Eighteenth 
Street to Tenth Avenue and passes under the P. R. R. 
tracks at the culvert, thence to Margaret Avenue, thence 
to Ninth Avenue and along the Hollidaysburg branch 
road to Twenty-fourth Street, where it passes under the 
culvert, and continues along Twenty-fourth Street to 
Fifth Avenue, then bearing to the right continues to old 
Allegheny Furnace and empties into Mill Run, which, 
in turn, empties into the Beaver Dam branch of the 
Juniata. 

The First District Sewer was begun August 1st, 
1892, and completed June 15th, 1893. Bowman Broth- 
ers, of McKeesport, contractors. It is a brick and stone 
egg-shaped sewer, in size 3 feet 8 inches by 5 feet 6 
inches at the largest point, and diminishing in size 



The following Summmary shows Length in Feet and Cost of all Sewers Built 
in the City prior to 1883 ; 



Sewer "Location. 



Thirteenth Street and Eleverrh Av nue 

Eighth Avenue from Nin'h to Twelfth Street 

First and Third Ward 

Ninth Street Sewer, West side 

Fifteenth and Twenty-fourih Strtets or Sixth Ward 

Seventh Avenue frem Twelfth to Fifteenth Streets 

Second and Eighth Ward Sewers 

Chestnut Avenue 

Eleventh Avenue from Fifteenth to beyond Sixteenth Street 

Twelfth Avenue from Fourteenth to Sixteenth Street 

Sixteenth Street from Eleventh to Twelfth Avenue 

Sixteenth Street from Tenth to Eleventh Avenue 

Twelfth Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues 

Ninth Street from Eighth to Ninth Street sewer 

Sixth Avenue from Seventeenth to Twentieth Street 

Fifteenth Street from Eighth to Seventh Avenue 

Eighth Avenue from Twelfth to Fifteenth Street.. - 

Eighth Avenue between Seventeenth and Twenty- fourth Streets. 

Eleventh Alley between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets 

Green Avenue between Ninth and Eleventh Streets 

Green Alley from Tenth to Eleventh Streets 

Seventeenth Street Sewer from Bridge Street to Eighth Avenue. 

Eighteenth Street from Tenth to Thirteenth Avenues 

Sixteenth Street and Union Avenue., 

Green Avenue and Eighth Street to Howard Avenue 

Thirteenth Stre-t 

Thirteenth Street extension and inlets 

Eleventh Avenue from Twelfth to Eleventh Streets 

Seventh Avenue snd Seventeenth Street 



1,100 

1,320 

2,657 

1,700 

3,378 

1,310 

3,309 

747 

410 

780 

278 

338 

275 

325 

997 

310 

1,300 

2,500 

450 

565 

500 

950 

900 

1,850 

1,278 

797 

270 

400 

150 



4,125.20 

3,066.70 

9,365.99 

6,460.0) 

23,123.00 

3,161.30 

24,495.10 

1,452.52 

1,096.10 

1,913.15 

635.75 

1,014.00 

389.00 

2,254.50 

2,214.64 

820.00 

2,600.00 

4,116.90 

234.15 

762.75 

335.00 

2,592.00 

5,414.82 

3,665.00 

1,889.20 

1,275,20 

572.00 

769,54 

123.70 



31,144 S 109.937.21 



During the time intervening between 1883 and 1888 very little sewer con- 
structing was done, and there are no records regarding it now in the office of 
the City Engineer. In 1888, however, Harvey Linton was employed as City 
Engineer and under his able administration the office has become a credit to 
the city; and the work of sewer building from that time systematized and a 
complete record kept. 



Fifteenth Street on 
Street on the south- 



toward its head, where its smallest dimension is 2 feet 6 
inches by 3 feet 9 inches. Its total length is 2971.3 feet, 
and the cost was $29,256.51. 

Its mouth is at Ninth Street and Eleventh Avenue, 
and it extends up Ninth Street to Howard Alley three 
feet northeast of the center line of alley; thence along 
the center of Howard Alley to Tenth Street; thence 
along Tenth Street generally six feet to southwest of 
the center line of the street to Seventeenth Alley at east 
corner of a lot 103 feet southwest of Tenth Street; thence 
diagonally through said lot to and crossing Eighteenth 
Avenue to dividing line between two lots 125 feet north- 
east of Eleventh Street; thence along said dividing line, 
and by a deflection to left to Eighteenth Alley, to intake 
on northwestern side of said alley, about 100 feet north- 
west of Eleventh Street. 

The Second District Sewer was begun July 19th, 
1894, and completed November 2d, 1894, by Matthew H. 
Smith and W. C. Juttee. Its construction is similar to 
that of the First District sewer, and the dimensions at its 
mouth, and for some distance up, are 4 feet 6 inches by 
5 feet 8}4 inches. It is built double, or twin, for 160 
feet. At the upper part it is smaller, ending with a 
section 137 8-10 feet long of 24-inch terra-cotta pipe. 
There are two parts or branches of this sewer, the first 
and larger one extending from its mouth or point of dis- 
charge, Bellwood Avenue, near Seventh Avenue and 
Lloyd Street, by the Gas "Works, along First Street to 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



69 



Second Avenue; thence along- Second Avenue to Second 
Street, and along- Second Street to Crawford Avenue, 
the present .city line, and is 4377.8 feet in length. 
The Second or Fifth Avenue branch diverges from the 
main stem at Fifth Avenue and First Street, and extends 
along Fifth Avenue to Fifth Street, a distance of 1,900 
feet. Its size is 3 feet 5 inches by 5 feet \]/ 2 inches at 
the largest part, and diminishing- to 2 feet 4 inches by 3 
feet 6 inches at the upper end, near Fifth Street. This 
sewer, including the two branches, cost $35,275.37. 

The Third District Sewee was begun May, 9, 
1894, and completed September 5, 1894; Bowman Bros., 
contractors. Its construction is similar to the others 
named, pear shaped, and in size 4 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 
8}4 inches at the largest part, changing to egg shape 
and diminishing to 1 foot 11 inches by 2 feet \0j4 inches 
at the upper end. Its length is 2,752^2 feet, and the 
cost was $24,445.10. It begins (going from mouth to 



city line at Beech Avenue between Fourth and Fifth 
Streets, following for the most part a natural waterway. 
The Fourth District Sewer was commenced July 
9, 1888 and not completed until October 26, 1S93; work 
being suspended for a long time on account of an in- 
junction obtained against the city by owners of property 
South of Altoona, who claimed that it would do them 
great injury. This sewer is 4 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 9 
inches in the largest part and 3 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 3 
inches in the smallest. Its kngth is (J,1S4.7 feet — 
over one mile — and its cost S54, 494.01, not including in- 
terest paid on deferred payments. Its location and 
course, from mouth to head, is as follows: Beginning at 
Dry (rap Run and southwest city line, near Twenty- 
sixth Street and Third Avenue; thence up the channel of 
the stream to Dysart Street and Third Avenue; thence 
along Dysart Street to Fifth Avenue; thence along Fifth 
Avenue to Twenty-fourth Street; thence along Twenty- 







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Residence of D. F. O'Rorke, Corner Union Avenue and Twentieth Street. (Beezer Bros., Architects,) 



head) at a point on Chestnut Avenue, near corner of Sec- 
ond Street; thence along Second Street to the alley back 
of Chestnut Avenue; thence along said alley to Third 
Street; thence along Third Street to Lexington Avenue; 
thence diagonally across the avenue to a private lot, 
about 52 feet southwest from Third Street; thence 
diagonally through lots and squares, crossing Howard, 
Walnut and Willow Avenues between Third and Fourth 
Streets, to Cherry Avenue at a point about 60 feet south- 
east of Fourth Street; thence diagonally across Cherry 
Avenue to Fourth Street, and along Fourth Street to 
Spruce Avenue; thence diagonally across Spruce Avenue 
to a private lot, about 53 feet southwest of Fourth Street; 
thence diagonally across private property to northwest 



fourth Street to Ninth Avenue and under Hollidaysburg 
Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, through the 
smaller arch of the culvert, along said Twenty-fourth 
Street, crossing Ninth Avenue and Beale Avenue to 
Broad Avenue; thence along Broad Avenue to Union 
Avenue and Margaret Avenue; thence along Union 
Avenue to Eighteenth Street and Tenth Avenue at the 
culvert of the Pennsylvania Railroad, main line. This 
is the upper terminus of the Fourth District Sewer proper, 
but it connects here with an older 42-inch circular brick 
sewer, which comes down Eighteenth Street from Thir- 
teenth Avenue. From Eighteenth Street and Thirteenth 
Avenue, the upper end of said old sewer, is a new branch 
which may be called Eighteenth Street Sewer. Its 



^Itoona • ^a.nk, 

(Unincorporated.) 

E. B. ISETT, President. X J. G. DAVIS, Cashier. 

DIRECTORS. 

J, B. WESTLEY, H. C. DERN. DANIEL LAUGHMAN, 

W. S. LEE. J. P. LAFFERTY. WILLIAM W, MURRAY, 

Interest allowed on time deposits, ' ' s 
Special attention paid to bank correspondence. 



DIRECT THROUGH WIRES. 



PROMPT SERVICE. 



TJhe ^Postal Uelegraph Cable Co. 

Transmits Telegrams to all important points in the United 
States and British America, and via. Commercial 

(MacKay-Bennett) Cables to all the World. 
The Postal Telegraph Cable Co. maintains a prompt 
and efficient District Messenger Service. Messengers 
furnished. Satisfaction Guaranteed. 

OPEN PROM 7 A. M. TO 12 MIDNIGHT. 
Public patronage is essential to the maintenance of competition. 



ALTOONA OFFICE, No. 1106 TWELFTH ST. 

A. P. H. SAUL, Manager. 



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WM. W. MURRA 




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SWot. TTfurray ' s Son dc Co. 



THE OLDEST ESTABLISHED 



Dry Goods and 

Carpet House 



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♦ IN" THE CITY. ♦ 



Reliable Soods, ■*%/ 

jCowest ZPriceSj 
W Sfiest Service. 




Nos. 1315 and 1317 Eleventh Avenue. 
ALTOONA, PA 




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JOHN H. HURD £ CO, 
^vVsll : Paper 

Painting, Graining and Paper Hanging 
Also Blank Books and Stationery. . . . 



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CITY PLANING MILLS,/-° ! sss!^- 

WILLIAM STOKE, 

Contractor * and * Builder, 



MANUFACTURER OF 



Sash, Doors, Shutters, Blinds, Flooring, Siding, Scroll 

Work, Plastering Lath, Pickets, Shingles and All 

Kinds of Bill Lumber. Balusters and 

Stair Building, Etc. 



I31& ELEVENTH SVE, 



SLTOONM, F»S. 70 Twentieth St. bet. INinth and Tenth Aves., Altoona, Pa. 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



71 



•course is along- Eighteenth Street for a short distance, 
then at an angle to the northwest across private prop- 
erty to Fourteenth Avenue between Eighteenth and 
Nineteenth Streets and continuing across private lots 
North-westward to about the center line of Eighteenth 
Street and to city line. The length of this new branch 
is 1,125.8 feet and its size 2 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 9 
inches at largest part and 42 inches in diameter and cir- 
cular at smaller or upper end. Cost, $7,236.15. 

This new branch, or continuation of the Eighteenth 
Street sewer up Dry Gap Run, was begun August 20th, 
1894, and completed October 12th, 1894. 

There is a 20-inch brick sewer in Sixteenth Street 
from Eleventh Avenue to Pennsylvania Railroad, and 
along track of Pennsylvania Railroad to Eighteenth 
Street where it joins the Fourth District sewer extension. 
This sewer has 20-inch branches on Eleventh Avenue 
extending a short distance either way from Sixteenth 
Street. 

Another important branch or feeder of this older 
sewer may be called the "north branch," or Sixteenth 
Street sewer. It was built by Bowman Brothers. Begun 
November 12th, 1894, and completed December 8th, 
1894. Size, 2 feet G inches by 3 feet 9 inches. Length, 
.528 feet. Cost, $3,268.40. Its lower terminus is at 
Washington Alley, near Sixteenth Street and Fourteenth 
Avenue, and it extends up a deep ravine, through pri- 
vate propert}% across Sixteenth Avenue to Seventeenth 
Alley. From the lower end of this new branch the 
sewage is discharged into an older 36-inch brick sewer, 
which extends down Sixteenth Street to Union Avenue, 
and along Union Avenue to Eighteenth Street culvert. 

An extension to the old McCann sewer, mentioned by 
•the Committee of Forty-eight, is really a part of the 
First District system, and was completed June 6th, 1888, 
by John R. Fraser, contractor. It extends from Six- 
teenth Alley, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth 
Streets, obliquel}- across private property to Eighteenth 
Avenue and Fourteenth Street. It is a 24-inch brick 
sewer, 573 feet in length and cost $826.95. We add it to 
the First District sewer in the figures given. 

Another part of this system is on Ninth Street, beyond 
Howard Avenue, and is about 435 feet long, but of little 
practical value since the new line was built up that 
hollow. 

Terra Cotta Pipe Sewers laid during the Years 1888 
to 1894 Inclusive, 

Two 12-inch sewers on Seventh Avenue, between 
Twenty-first and Twenty-fourth Streets; one on each 
side at or near curb line. Total length of the two, 
2,161^ feet; completed July 10,1888; George Snyder, 
contractor; cost, 77 cents per foot and S25.00 for inlets. 
Total cost, SI, 724.35. 

A 12-inch sewer on Sixteenth Street, from Margaret 
Avenue to Railroad Avenue (now closed); completed 
July 7, 1888; length, 403^ feet; cost per foot 80 cents; 
one inlet, $30.00. Total cost, $352.80. Akers & Barwis, 
contractors. 



A 10-inch private sewer on Seventh Street from Chest- 
nut to Eleventh Avenues. Built October and November, 
1888, by Pennsylvania Railroad Company, D. K. Ramey 
and others; length, about 600 feet. Total cost, $360. 

A 10-inch private sewer on Sixteenth Avenue, be- 
tween Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets. Completed May 
25, 1889; length, about 500 feet; cost about $230. 

A 12-inch private sewer on Seventeenth Avenue, 
between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets. Completed in 
Spring of 1890; length, about 390 feet; cost, about $200. 

An 8 and 10-inch private sewer on Beale Avenue, 
between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-sixth Streets; put 
in by J. D. Bloomhardt and others in 1890. Length, 656 
feet; cost, about $280. 

An 8-inch sewer on Eighth Avenue, between Six- 
teenth and Seventeenth Streets. Length, 312 feet; 
cost, including Y branches, $210.21: J. A. Canan and 
D. Wylie, contractors; completed October, 1889. 

An 8-inch sewer on Seventeenth Alley, from Thir- 
teenth Street to 24-inch sewer, near Fourteenth Street. 
Completed November, 1892 ; length, 318 feet, at 48 
cents; cost, with Ys, $154.54; David Wylie, contractor. 

A private sewer in Eighth Alley, between Sixteenth 
and Seventeenth Streets. Size, 6 inches in diameter; 
length about 340 feet; cost, $136. 

A 10-inch sewer on Eighth Street, between Fairview 
Cemetery and Howard Avenue. Completed July 15, 
1892; length, 550 feet; cost, $440. 

An 8-inch sewer on Fifth Alley, between Twelfth 
and Fourteenth Streets. Completed November 26, 1892; 
cost, $556; James Gardner, contractor; length, 1,050 
feet. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Washington Avenue from 
Sixteenth Street and entending 665.8 feet northwest- 
ward. Cost, $493; Isaac Bender, contractor; completed 
December, 1892. 

An 8, 10 and 12-inch sewer on Ninth Avenue, be- 
tween Seventeenth and Twenty-third Streets, and Union 
Avenue, from Twenty-third to Twenty-Fourth Streets. 
Completed December 30, 1892; length, 2,635 feet; total 
cost, $2,650; W. H. Herr, contractor. 

An 8, 12 and 15-inch private sewer on Broad Avenue 
and Twenty-second Street and West Chestnut Avenue. 
Completed about August, 1892; total length, 763 feet; 
cost about $255. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Fifth Avenue, between 
Twelfth and Sixteenth Streets, and on Sixteenth Street 
to Sixth Avenue. Completed January 27, 1893; length, 
2,006 feet; James Gardner, contractor; cost, $1,480. 

An 8 and 10-inch pipe sewer. Completed May 31, 
1893, by I. Bender, contractor. Length, S15; cost, 
$676.45. Extends along Eleventh Street, between Third 
and Sixth Avenues. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer, constructed in July, 1893, on 
Broad Avenue, between Twentv-fourth and Twenty- 
fifth Streets, and on Twenty-fifth Street to Broad Alley 
and along Broad Alley 271 feet. Length, 918 feet; cost, 
$664.90. 



72 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 




X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



73 



A 12, 15 and 18-inch sewer along Fifth Avenue, be- 
tween Nineteenth and Twenty-fourth Streets. Com- 
pleted July 27, 1893. Length, 1,872 feet; cost $2,227.68; 
I. Bender, contractor. 

An 8, 1() and 12-inch sewer;. completed July 2'), is 1 ).?, 
on Sixteenth Avenue, between Tenth and Twelfth 
Streets. Length, 673 feet; cost, $898.50; James Gardner, 
■contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer; completed September 12, 
1893, on Beale Avenue, between Twenty-second and 
Twenty-fourth Streets. Length, 806 feet; cost, $830; 
James Gardner, contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Sjventh Avenue, between 
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-sixth Streets. Completed 
September 7, 1893; length, 860 feet; cost; $741.20; Henry 
Elway, contractor. 

A 10-inch sewer on Sixth Avenue, between Twenty- 
second and Twenty-fourth Streets. Completed Novem- 
ber 11, 1893; length, 1,294J^ feet; cost, $867.32; Isaac 
Bender, contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Margaret Avenue, between 
Seventeenth Street and Union Avenue. Completed 
November 21, 1893; length, 1,013 feet; cost, $1,024.40; 
Henry Elway, contractor. 

An 8 and 12-inch sewer on Broad Avenue, between 
Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Streets. Completed 
December 12, 1S93; length, 514 feet; cost, $424.36; Isaac 
Bender, contractor. 

An 8-inch pipe sewer on Chestnut Avenue, between 
First and Second Streets. Completed January 13, 1894; 
length, 360 feet; cost, $238.55; Welch Brothers, con- 
tractors. 

A 10-inch sewer on Sixteenth Street, between Thir- 
teenth Alley and Seventeenth Avenue. Completed April 
28, 1894. length, 732 feet; cost, $453.84; I. Bender, con- 
tractor. 

An 8 an 10-inch sewer on Lexington Avenue, be- 
tween First and Third Streets. Completed July 20, 
1894; length, 878 )i feet; cost, $527. lo; Gates & Mc- 
Monigal, contractors. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Lexington Alley, between 
First and Third District Sewers. Completed July 21, 
1894; length, 979^ feet; cost, S577.90; I. Bender, con- 
tractor. 

An 8-inch sewer on Broad Avenue, between Twenty- 
fifth and Twenty-sixth Streets, under northwest side- 
walk. Completed August 22, 1894; length, 462J-3 feet; 
cost, $217.30; Henry Elway, contractor. 

A 10-inch sewer on Howard Avenue, between Fifth 
Street and Third District sewer. Completed October 13, 
1894; length, 500 feet; cost, $433; Bowman Brothers, 
contractors. 

An 8-inch sewer on Walnut Avenue, between First 
Street and Third District sewer. Completed November 
7, 1894; length, 855 feet; cost, $459.75; Bowman Broth- 
ers, contractors. 

An 8 and 12-inch sewer on Fourth Alley, between 
Thirteenth and Seventeenth Streets. Completed Novem- 
ber 2, 1894. length, 1,600 feet; cost, $995.80; I. Bender, 
contractor. 



An S-inch sewer on Walnut Alley, between Fifth 
Street an 1 Third District S:wjr. Completed Novem- 
ber 14, 1894; length, 344 feet; cost, S49S; Bowman Bros., 

contractors. 

A 12-inch sewer on Fifth Avenue, between Seven- 
teenth and Nineteenth Streets and on Seven'.eenth 
Street to Fourth Alley. Completed November 14, 1894; 
length, S17 feet; cost, $ + 16.64; Isaac Bender, contractor. 

A double storm sewer of 24-inch terra cotta pipe, ex- 
tending from Broad Avenue and Twenty-seventh Street 
through Altoona Foundry and Machine Company s 
grounds to Ninth Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street. 
Completed October 30, 1894; length of line of double 
sewer, 86S feet =1,736 feet; cost, $1,814. Done under 
direction of City Engineer and at the cost of the city. 

A 10-inch private sewer on Howard Avenue, between 
Third and Fourth Streets. Completed October 30, 1894; 
length, 53S feet; cost, S217.48; John Miller, contractor. 

An 8-inch private sewer on Chestnut Avenue, between 
Third and Fourth Streets. Completed July 27, 1894 ; 
length, 414 feet; cost, about$200; John Miller, contractor. 

Making a total of 32,332 feet of branch or lateral 
sewers built during the seven years from 1888 to 1894 
inclusive. Costing, $24,931.07. 

Work of 1895 — Intercepting Sewer, 

In 1891 Peter Good, living 2}4 miles south of Al- 
toona, obtained a judgment for $5,000 damages against 
the city on account of the sewage polluting the streams 
and springs of his farm, and suits were brought by other 
property owners along the course of the same stream, 
so that it became imperative that the municipality 
should take measures to dispose of the sewage from the 
Fourth District in some way less objectionable to 
the people living below the city. After consulting sev- 
eral eminent engineers, it was decided by Council to con- 
struct an intercepting sewer to carry this sewage to a 
considerable distance and deposit it on sandy ground 
where it would be filtered and purified without injury to 
anyone. The place of deposit chosen was the Burns 
tract of land, a sandy flat, lying near Cresswell Station, 
on the Hollidaysburg branch railroad, three miles south 
of city limits. Bids were accordingly received for the 
construction of this sewer, and the contract awarded to 
Campbell & Dennis, of Joliet, 111., September 17, 1895, 
they being the lowest bidders. The work is now in 
process of construction. The contract calls for 6,116 
feet of 27-inch aud 3,164 feet of 30-inch terra cotta pipe, 
and 5,900 feet of- brick sewer. 33^x44 inches, laid and 
completed as per specifications, for the gross sum of 
$41,427.54. When this is completed it is believed no 
further trouble will be experienced. The other sewers 
built in 1895 were of small dimensions, but the aggre- 
gate length was 30,075, and the cost $18,551.38. We 
describe them as follows: 



74 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



Terra Cotta Pipe Sewers Constructed in 1895, 

An 8, 10 and 12-inch sewer on Fourth Avenue, be- 
tween First and Tenth Streets. Completed July 9, 1895; 
length, 4,179)4 feet; cost, $2,396.60; McConehey & Ben- 
nett, contractors. 

An S, 10, 12 and 18-inch sewer on Third Alley, be- 
tween First and Tenth Streets. Completed July 18, 
1895; length, 3,939.4 feet; cost, $2,428.40; McConehey 
& Bennett, contractors. 

An 8 an 10-inch sewer on Third Avenue, between 
First and Kettle Streets. Completed July 27, 1895; 
length, 811 feet; cost, $494.71; Isaac Bender, contractor. 

A 10-inch sewer on Fourth Avenue, between First 
and Seventh Streets. Completed November 9, 1895; 
length, 2,551 feet; cost, $1,249.99; Isaac Bender con- 
tractor. 

An 8, 10, 12 and 15-inch sewer on Third Avenue, be- 
tween First and Thirteenth Streets. Completed Novem- 
ber 27, 1895, length, 5,218> 2 feet; cost, 2,866.44; Bow- 
man Bros., contractors. 

The above are all in the Second District. 

A 10-inch sewer on Lexington Avenue, between 
Third and Fifth Streets. Completed October 29, 1895; 
length, 566 feet; cost, $339.60; W. H. Smith, contractor; 
sublet to Isaac Bender. 

Above in Third District and the following in the 
Fourth District: 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Fourth Avenue, between 
Thirteenth and Fifteenth Streets. Completed April 25, 
1895; length, 1,015 feet; cost, $548.10; I. Bender, con- 
tractor. 

An 8-inch sewer on Third Alley, between Thirteenth 
and Fourteenth Streets. Completed May 18, 1895; 
length, 550 feet; cost, $231; I. Bender, contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer in Fifth Alley, between Six- 
teenth and Nineteenth Streets. Completed August 8, 
1895; length, 1,086 feet; cost, $510.42; I. Bender, con- 
tractor. 

An 8-inch sewer on Pine and Nineteenth Streets. 
Completed August 16, 1895; length, 416 feet; cost, 
$257.92; I. Bender, contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Third Avenue, between 
Nineteenth and Twenty-first Streets, and to and on 
Fourth Avenue. Completed October 3, 1S95; length, 
2,910 feet; cost. $1,251.30; I. Bender, contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on West Chestnut Avenue, 
between Twenty-third and Twenty-fifth Streets. Com- 
pleted October 16, 1895; length, 700 feet; cost, $420; 
Wm. H. Herr, contractor. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Third Avenue, between 
Seventeenth and Nineteenth Streets. Completed Octo- 
ber 21, 1895; length, 557 feet; cost, $196.89; built by 
Lauver & Louden; private contract; their cost. 

An 8 and 10-inch sewer on Third Avenue, between 
Twenty-first and Twenty-third Streets, &c. Completed 
November 7, 1895; length, 2,187 feet; cost, $896.67; 
Wm. H. Herr, contractor. 

An 8-inch sewer on Fourth Alley, between Twenty- 
ty-third and Twenty-fourth streets. Completed Novem- 
ber 22, 1895; length, 521 feet; cost, $232.03; Wm. H. 
Herr, contractor. 



An 8-inch sewer on Fourth Alley, between Nineteenth. 
and Twentieth Streets, etc. Completed November 26,. 
1895; length, 496)2 feet; cost, #201.64; William H. Herr, 
contractor. 

A 24-inch terra cotta pipe sewer, 2,152 feet long, and 
36-inch brick culvert, 219 feet long; on Twenty-third 
Street, between Broad Avenue and Thirteenth Avenue. 
Completed December 2, 1895; total length, 2,371 feet;. 
cost, $4,029.67; Bowman Bros., contractors. 

The sewer building of 1895 is summarized as follows: 

13,781.4 feet of 8-inch terra cotta pipe laid. 

11;0')3 feet of 10-inch terra cotta pipe laid. 

938 feet of 12-inch terra cotta pipe laid. 

1,444.5 feet of 15-inch terra cotta pipe laid. 

447.6 feet of 18-inch terra cotta pipe laid. 

2,152 feet of 24-inch terra cotta pipe laid. 

Making a total of 30,075 feet, at a cost of $18,551.38. 

General Summary of Sewers, 

From the foregoing it will be observed that the 
sewer-building of Altoona has been principally at two 
periods, and that at this time (close of 1895) the greater 
part of the city is well provided with them. All have 
been substantially constructed, and are likely to last for 
many years. The capacity of the mains is ample for 
the wants of a city of double Altoona's present popula- 
tion, and only some lateral branches need be laid as the 
increasing population shall require. The sewers con- 
structed prior to 1883 have a total length of 31, 144 feet 
and cost $L09, 937.21. The four large district sewers- 
constructed between the years 18S8 and 1894 aggregate 
in length 16,286.3 feet, and cost $143,470.99. Three ad- 
ditions to these, in length 2,226 feet, cost $11,331.50. 
The lateral branches laid during the latter period ag- 
gregate 32,332 feet in length, and cost $24,931.07. The 
lateral branches laid in 1895 aggregate 30,075 feet, and 
cost $18,551.38, and the intercepting sewer, carrying the 
sewage of the Fourth District 2 l /z miles from the city. 
12,016 feet will, when completed, have cost about $45,- 
000, making a grand total of 123,617 feet (23?3 miles), 
costing $353,222.95. 

To this should be added $2,376.91 paid by the city 
toward the cost of rebuilding the sewer along the line 
of Ninth Street, from Eighth to Eleventh Avenues. 
This work was done by the Pennsylvania Railroad, as 
it passed through their ground 820 feet. 

The total cost was $6,618,69, of which the city paid 
as above stated, $2,376.91, and the company, $4,241.78. 

The cost of the earlier sewers was assessed in part 
on the properties benefitted, the city assuming the re- 
mainder, but the assessments were only partly collected 
and the city finally paid the greater part of it. More 
recent sewers have been assessed in full against property 
owners, and the lateral branches mostly paid for in that 
way, but after making assessments at a considerable cost 
for" viewers, etc., for cost of the District Sewers, the as- 
sessments were set aside and they were paid for out of 
the proceeds of bonds issued and sold for that purpose; 
$150,000 having been voted at a special election of the 
citizens, March 22, 1895, for an Improvement Loan of 
$280,000; the $150,000, mentioned above, having been 
specifically appropriated for the Fourth District Sewer. 






x x schools, x X 



ffl^SsftO i'ITV in the State has made more ample 

w&u' fs$ provision for the education of her children 
SHafflBS than has Altoona, nor has any other so many 
and sucb uniformly large and well appointed modern 
School buildings. In the infancy of the city, frame build- 
ings were erected lor schools as needed, but these were 
soon replaced with substantial brick ones and in 1891 
the last frame school house was abandoned and all brick 
buildings erected in every ward; some wards having 
three, so distributed as to best accommodate the children 
of the district. Not only is schooling- free to the youth 
of the city, but since 1893, even the books and school 
supplies have been furnished all pupils at the public's cost. 

The value of the school property of the city now is, 
$476,235. 

On page 13 will be found an engraving of the Fourth 
Ward school house, with the new High School building 
at it side on the avenue, which will give an idea of the 
size and beauty of the school buildings of Altoona, of 
which there are twelve, containing in the aggregate 
140 school and recitation rooms. The schools are open 
9 months in the year. There are now enrolled for the 
term 1895-6, 6,000 pupils, and 140 teachers are em- 
ployed. There is also a City Superintendent of schools, 
who exerciscsconstant personal supervision over all. The 
school buildings, with their names, number of rooms 
and location are as follows: 

ADAMs-Sixth Ward — Corner Sixth Avenue and 
Twenty-fourth Street — 11 rooms. 

Bryant — Third Ward — Corner Fourteenth Avenue 
and Thirteenth Street — 11 rooms. 

Emerson — Fourth Ward — Corner Seventh Avenue 
and Fifteenth Street — 14 rooms. 

Franklin — Sixth Ward — Corner Seventh Avenue and 
Twentieth Street — 12 rooms. 

Irving — Seventh Ward — Lexington Avenue, between 
First and Second Streets — 12 rooms. 

Jefferson — Eighth Ward — Corner Fourth Avenue 
and Second Street — 11 rooms. 

Lincoln (the High School) — Fourth Ward — Seventh 
Avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets — 13 
rooms. 

Madison — Eighth Ward — Corner Sixth Avenue and 
Seventh Street — 10 rooms. 

Miller — Fifth Ward — Corner Margaret Avenue and 
Union and Broad Avenues — 12 rooms. 

Penn — Second Ward — Corner Sixth Avenue and 
Tenth Street — 12 rooms. 

Washington — Eighth Ward — Corner First Avenue 
and Fifth Street — 11 rooms. 

Webster — First Ward— Corner Tenth Street and 
Lexington Avenue — 8 rooms. 



Salaries of teachers range from $30 per month for pri- 
mary to $111 for principal of High School; the average 
being for males, $73.40, and females $42.23. 

School privileges in the city schools are only accorded 
to children of residents within city limits, consequently 
there are a number of school houses in the adjacent 
suburbs. Juniata Borough has her own in a fine four 
roomed brick building, and the others, Millville, Fair- 
view, Collinsville, Newburg, Oakton, East End, are pro- 
vided for by the School Board of Logan Township. 
The term in the township is but 7 months. 

In addition to the Public Schools of the city are the 
Parochial Schools of the four Roman Catholic Churches 




Group of Teachers —Altoona Public Schools. 
and the Protestant Episcopal Church. St. John's Church , 
Thirteenth Avenue and Thirteenth Street, has a large 
Convent in which are schools for girls, taught by the 
Sisters, and on the opposite side of the avenue is a large 
three-story brick building for boys, also taught by the 
Sisters. About 600 pupils attend these schools. Value 
of school property, about 335,000. 



76 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, A 



St. Mary's Church (German) on Fourteenth Street 
and Fifth Avenue has a very fine brick school building 
at the rear, on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Four- 
teenth Street, valued at $40,000, buildings and grounds. 
And here between 400 to 500 children are taught by the 
Sisters. 

St. Mark's Church, at Sixth Avenue and Fourth 
Street, has its parish schools in frame buildings at the 
corner of Sixth Avenue and Eleventh Street; about 200 
children attend. 

The Sacred Heart Church, Sixth Avenue between 
Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets, has a part of the 
building devoted to school purposes where 300 to 400 
pupils are taught. 



There are no colleges in Altoona except the Business 
and Commercial Schools which are sometimes called 
Commercial Colleges. Of these there are three, which 
teach short hand, typewriting- and business methods. 
Anderson's, the most thorougfh and comprehensive, is 
located on the fourth floor of the Mateer building-, Elev- 
enth Avenue between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. 
The Mountain City, G. G. Zeth, principal, is on third 
floor, corner of Eleventh Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 
W. F. Eisenberg's "Altoona Business College, " at No. 
1410 Eleventh Avenue, second floor. 

In the Mateer building- is also established the "Al- 
toona Conservatory of Music," of which J. Mahlon Du- 
g-anne is director. 






Fifth Ward School Building, Union and Margaret Avenues. 




EEimmi -i-i-i-i-i:!:} no GiiQi]iiii::Ba>iiEii2'ii: 
,„,,., ,.„ J( ..„.^ 



OEO[3H 



S^Li^l^ffi 






Altoona Mechanics' Library, 




HICK' E is iiu public library in Altoona, but the 
"Altoona Mechanics' Library," which is aided 
largely by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 
is so nearly free that no resident need complain of the 
lack of a public one. 

This library is located in a wing- of the Logan House 
which extends to Eleventh Avenue, between Twelfth 
and Thirteenth Streets, a very convenient and central 
part of the city; and in it is to be found all the standard 
literature of the day and new books are being added 
constantly as they are published. There are over 22,000 




High School Building, Seventh Avenue between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, 
(Robinson £. Crocket, Architects.) 

volumes in the library now. Membership, entitling one 
to the use of the library and to take out books, costs 
but S3 per year; apprentices, under the age of 21 years, 
$1. This fee also includes admission to the literary en- 
tertainments and lectures, a number of which are pro- 
vided every winter season by the management. 

The library is open each week daj', from 9 in the 
morning to 10 o'clock at night and on Sundays from 2 to 
5 p. M. 



The Officers are ; 

G. W Strattan, President. 
Rev. Allan Sheldon Woodle, Vice President. 
W. C. Leet, Secretary. 
D. S. Keith, Treasurer. 
Miss L. L. Snyder, Librarian. 
Dr. C. B. Dudley, Chairman Book Committee. 
The subjoined excerpt from the report of Secretary 
Leet, for the year ending December 31, 1895, exhibits 
the present condition of the library as well as the liter- 
ary proclivities of Altoona's inhabitants. 

The receipts for the 3 T ear ending 
December 31, 1895, were $4,022.27, 
and the expenditures $3,527.17; 
leaving a balance of cash on hand 
of S495.10. 

The membership is made up as 
follows : Honorary 2, life 18, active 
366, junior 89, shareholders 295, 
school children 123, free 11, making 
a total membership of 904. 

Numberof new books added during 
the past year, 1,700; while 100 worn 
out volumes were replaced, 11 were 
lost and paid for and 137 were re- 
paired. The total number of books 
at the close of the year was 22,425. 
Secretary Leet's report continues: 
It will no doubt be of eminent 
satisfaction to the stockholders and 
members of the Library Associa- 
tion in reading the foregoing report 
to know that you have had a fairly 
successful 3*ear. 

In my report tor the year ending 
Decemher 31, 1894, I referred to the 
fact that there was quite a decrease 
in your membership, made up large- 
ly of juniors, stating that the loss 
was, no doubt, due to the business 
depression, through which we were 
then passing, and that the matter 
would probably adjust itself on the 
return of better times. It is now very gratifying to 
state that, while there has been no gain in the number 
of junior members, there has been a very satisfactory 
gain in the number of active members and stockholders, 
there having been 33 active and 27 new stockholders 
added during the year. 

The list of perodicals, consisting of 155 numbers, includ- 
ing religious, scientific, railroad and general, both 
monthly and weekly, were subscribed for for the year 
1896; also, 14 daily papers. 



The Altoona Title Co. 



OF HLTOONS, PR 



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and Mechanics' Liens on all Property in Blair County. 

W. L. KDKMS, 

~i Manufacturers' * Agent, >~ 

Room 12, Schenk Block, Altoona, Pa. 
JOHN CLINGERMKN, 

Fire Insurance and Real Estate Agent, 

1012 CHESTNUT AVE., ALTOONA, PA. 



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1314 ELEVENTH AVENUE, ALTOONA, PA. 



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Groceries, Flour and Feed, 

GENERAL MERCHANDISE. 

Bell Telephone 207. FERTILIZER A SPECIALTY. 

Postoffice Address— No. 2400 Ninth Street, Altoona. Pa. 



CHAS. EL. NESBJLT, 

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Cupping and Leeching a Specialty at All Hours, 

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CHARLES M. ROCKEY, 

Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 




Fish, Oysters and Produce 



Shell Oysters and Clams. 

Specialty Made of Oysters for Suppers. 

Telephones : Bell 284, Phoenix 192. 1609 Eleventh Avenue. 

GEO. E. FRESH, 

Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 

Arms, Ammunition and Athletic Goods 

Base Ball, Lawn Tennis and Gymnasium Supplies. 

Fishing Tackle and Exercisers. Smokless Shells a Specialty. 

BICYCLE AGENCY AND BEPAIB SHOP. 
'8 use ELEVENTH AVE, -. ALTOONA, T*A. 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X 



*%, ~<, 



79 



In order to give an idea of the number of honks ex- 
changed at the library, and the most popular books, the 
following will no doubt be of interest: 

Beginning with December, 1894, the Following num- 
ber of books were drawn monthly, viz: December, 1S')4, 
3,891 ; January, 1895, 3,861; February, 1895, 3,432; March, 
1895, 3,986; April, 1895, 3,201; May, 1895, 3,060; June, 
1895,3,384; July, 1895, 3,868; August, 1895,3,530; Sep- 
tember, 1895, 3,091; October, 1895, 3,802; November, 
1895, 4,131; December, 1895, 3,531. 

On Saturday, December 28, 1895, 343 books were 
•drawn. The greatest number drawn by any one person 
during the year was 435, the next, following in order. 
335, 210 and 208. 

The following list of books were the most popular 
during the year, as shown by the number of times 
drawn: Haste and Waste, by Oliver Optic, 1()7 times; 
Trilby, by George DuMaurier, 100 times; Manxman, by 



Hall Caine, 99 times; Miss Lou, by E. P. Roe, 83 times; 
Heart of Gold, by L T. Meade, 82 times; Vendetta, by 
Marie Corelli, 82 times; Ethelyn's Mistake, by Mary J. 
Holmes, 81 times; Jane Field, by Mary E. Wilkins, 80 
times; House of the Wolf, by Stanley J. Weyman, 78 
times; Ramona, by Helen Hunt Jackson, 64 times. 

There are 123 school children who enjoy the privilege 
of the library through the courtesy extended to them by 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. These children 
represent an equal number of shares of stock held by 
the company. Two or three years ago there were 281 of 
these free memberships granted, but it was found neces- 
sary to reduce this number, owing to the fact that the 
membership had increased and more space for additional 
cases was required in order ro accommodate new books. 

The 14 daily papers referred to above are divided up 
as follows, viz: New York, 5; Philadelphia, 2; Pittsburg; 
3; Chicago, 1; Altoona, 5. 




MP ^^j 



W 




Altoona Silk Mill — View from near Hollidaysburg Branch Railroad, Looking Northwest. 









-,- -i- -,- -;- -;- -;- -;- -;- ■ -;- 



■ . "■" , '■" . "'* , ~'<~ . "■" 






7C CHURCHES. A 

. .»...'.o*o*o^i^i*«*«-;- -;- -;- -;- -;- -;- -;--;- -;- -;- -;- 




LTOONA is well provided with churches and a 
iarge proportion of the inhabitants are regu- 
lar in attendance. The number of congregations, 
city and suburbs, is 45 and there are 41 church edifices. 
The denominations are Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Meth- 
odist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, German Reformed, 
United Brethren, Protestant Episcopal, Church of God, 
United Presbyterian, Evangelical Association, German 
Baptist (Dunkard), Disciples of Christ, Hebrew Re- 
formed and Orthodox Jewish. 

Many of the church buildings are large and imposing 
structures and the greater part of them constructed of 
brick or stone. The Protestant churches generally have 
a parsonage building for the preacher and the Roman 
Catholic and Protestant Episcopal have parochial schools 
in addition to parsonage. Attached to the St. John's 
Roman Catholic Church is a convent of large size and 
beautiful architecture, with spacious grounds. 

The aggregate value of church property is over one 
million dollars, as follows: 
Evangelical Lutheran — 7 churches — value of property. .% 225,000 

Roman Catholic— 4 churches — value of property 360,000 

Methodist Episcopal — 10 churches — value of property... 170,000 

Presbyterian — 5 churches — value of property 165,000 

Baptist — 4 churches — value of property 65,000 

Reformed — 2 churches — value of property 60,000 

United Brethern — 2 churches — value of property 40,000 

Protestant Episcopal — 1 church — value of property 70,000 

Church of God — 2 churches — value of property 20,000 

United Presbyterian — 1 church — value of property 8,000 

Evangelical Association — 1 church — value of property. . 4,000 

German Baptist — 1 church — value of property 6,000 

Orthodox Jews — 1 church — value of property 5,000 

Total Value of Property $1,198,000 

The other congregations worship in leased rooms. 

First Presbyterian Church, 

This is one of the earlier church buildings erected in 
Altoona, having been built in 1855. It is brick and 
two stories in height and has no spire; seating capacity 
of audience room on second floor, 600; membership, 584. 
The congregation owns a lot on the corner of Twelfth 
Avenue and Fifteenth Street, on which is erected a com- 
modious parsonage. The church property is valued at 
$65,000. Rev. J. W. Bain is pastor. He was installed 
May 1. 1S86. 

Eleventh Avenue having become so great a business 
street as to be no longer a suitable place for a church 
building, steps have been taken to secure a new site for 
the erection of a new church, which will likely be 
built within the next two years, but the location is not 



yet determined upon. This congregation was formed 
from members of the Hollidaysburg Presbyterian Church 
about 1841, and held services once a month in the old 
Union Church and schoolhouse on Sixteenth Street. 
As soon as Altoona was laid out and lots offered for 
sale they purchased two on the present corner of Twelfth 
Avenue and Thirteenth Street for $100, their deed be- 
ing the first made by Archibald Wright. They built a 
good-sized frame church building on one of these lots at 
a cost of about $3,000, which was completed in the fall 
of 1851, and was the first church built in the new town. 
The pulpit was filled by supplies until November, 1854,. 
when Rev. A. B. Clarke was called to the pastorate, 
which he held for nine years. The location was not 
satisfactory for some reason, and the lot on Eleventh 
Avenue was secured, and the present church building- 
erected in 1854 and 1855. The first building and lots 
were sold to the Masonic Lodge for $3,000, but, before 
they took possession, a fire destroyed the building. It 
occurred, as nearly as can be ascertained, on a Sunday 
morning in the autumn of 1855. 

The First Lutheran Church, 

This church is one of the earliest erected in the city 
and is situated on the southeast side of Eleventh Avenue,, 
between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, occupying 
Nos. 1409 and 1411. The building is brick, two stories- 
high and with a seating capacity of 750 and a member- 
ship of nearly 1,000. The parsonage adjoins the church 
on the west. They have two full lots here and two lots 
on Twelfth Avenue and Fourteenth Street, where it is 
proposed to build a new church soon; after which the 
site and buildings on Eleventh Avenue will be disposed 
of. Value of the church property now is $80,000. 

The congregation was organized in 1834, and for the 
first four or five years held their meetings in a log school, 
house which stood near where Fifth Avenue and Twen- 
tieth Street now intersect. In 1839 they helped build the 
old Union School House, where Sixteenth Street and 
Union Avenue meet; the congregation worshiped there 
until 1846, when they erected a church of their own at 
Collinsville and Rev. Henrv Baker became their regular 
pastor. When Altoona began to assume the appearance 
of a town and the postoffi.ee was brought here, they pur- 
chased the two lots now owned by them on Eleventh 
Avenue and erected a church and parsonage. The 
church was built in 1853 and dedicated the following 
year. In 1870 it was enlarged and improved at a cost 
of nearly $12,000. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 



81 



St, John's Roman Catholic Church. 

'Phis church is a two-story brick structure, situate on 
the southeast side of Thirteenth Avenue, between Thir- 
teenth and Fourteenth Streets. Its tall twin spires 
reach nearly 200 feet above the pavement and are plainly 
fiiscernable from nearly every pari of the city. The 
audience room of this church will seal over 1 ,201) people. 
At the northwest of the church is the large four-story 
convent and girls' school, built substantially of hrick, 
and at the southwest side is the pastoral residence, a 
tripple frame dwelling', while across the avenue and 
fronting on Thirteenth Street is the large three-story 
hrick building used for a hoys' school. The value of 
•church property of this congregation, including convent 
and schools, is about $200,000. The membership is 
about 4,oiK). Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy, Rector. 




Rt. Rev, Bishop John Tuigg, 



This congregation was organized in 1852, by Rev. 
John Walsh, then in charge of St. Mary's Church at 
Hollidavsburg; two lots were purchased and a small 
frame ch urch building erected that year, but not dedicated 
until 1853. In 1854 Rev. John Tuigg was installed as 
pastor, and was the first priest to reside in Altoona. 
He was an energetic worker and built up a strong 
congregation; purchased more ground, built an ad- 
dition to the first church, and in 1871 began the erection 



of the present church huildings, which were completed 
in 1875 and dedicated June 24, 1875. Father Tuigg 
served as rector until 1876, and soon after was made Bishop 
of the Diocese, with residence at Pittsburg. He died 
December 7, 1889, and was brought to Altoona for 
burial; the services being held in the church he built. 



The First Methodist Episcopal Church, 

This building is a two-story brick, standing on the 
north corner of Twelfth Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 
The parsonage is a frame building at its side to the 
cast. There is also a dwelling house to the rear of the 
church on same lot and belonging to the congregation. 
The church has the usual arrangement, of lecture or Sun- 
day school room and class rooms on the first floor, and 
audience room on the second floor. Seating capacity of 
the latter, 600; membership, 660; value of church prop- 
erty, about $50,000. Rev. Martin L. Ganoe is pastor. 

This is one of the oldest churches in the city, hav- 
ing been built in 1853-4, and from it, as children or 
grand-children, have sprung eight other congregations, 
each with a church of their own. This congregation 
was organized in 1851, with a membership of 37. Meet- 
ings were held in the Union school house, and a minis- 
ter from Birmingham, Rev. George Guyer, preached for 
them occasionally. In March, 1853, Altoona was made a 
pastoral charge, and Rev. John H. Ryland stationed 
here. Ground was secured and the erection of a suitable 
house of worship begun. The church edifice was rebuilt 
in 1871. The need of a larger church has been apparent 
for some time, and steps will be taken soon to erect one 
of stone, which will cost $100,000 or more. 



First Baptist Church, 

This church is a two-story brick, standing on the 
corner of Eleventh Avenue and Fifteeenth Street where 
it was erected in 1871. It has a seating capacity of 500 
in the audience room and 400 in the lecture room on first 
floor. A good parsonage stands on the same lot at the 
rear of the church, No. 1108 Fifteenth Street. The 
value of the ^church property, including the Sixth 
"Ward Mission building, is $50,000. Membership, over 
560; Rev. L. B. Plumer, Pastor. 

This congregation was organized in May, 1842, as the 
Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, in the old Union church 
and school house on Sixteenth Street, with 17 members. 
They had no church of their own until 1853, at which 
time they secured a lot adjoining their present site, on 
the east, and erected a small one-story brick, which was 
used until the erection of the present building on the 
corner. This first church building was afterwards 
owned by the St. John's Catholic congregation, and for 
a while used as a reading room; later as a store and 
auction house, until 1886, when it was torn down and the 
ground is now covered by the Woodcock Building, W. L. 
Woodcock having purchased it. 



82 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



RATES .... 

$1.50 to $2.00 
PER DAY, X, 




^[^ 

w? 



fjofel franklin 

F. F». MOLLOY, Proprietor. 



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Hotel Franklin, Seventeenth Street and Ninth Avenue, F. P. Molloy, Proprietor, 



SLTOONS, F»ff. 



Steam Heat and Elevator, 

Cars to all Parts of the City Pass the Door 

Every FourC Minutes. 



] HIS HOTEL is the most modern and up- 
to-date public house in the city. It is 
four stories in height and a basement, and is- 
solidly constructed of brick and stone, the 
front being- of cut stone. There are seventy- 
five rooms in the house, and a passenger 
elevator. The office, hall-way and reading- 
room occupy the entire front of fifty feet, and! 
together form one elegant room with three 
divisions, most artistically finished in red oak 
and with tile floor. The dining room is 22x55 
feet, also finished in red oak, and will com- 
fortably seat 100 guests. The kitchen is sit- 
uated in an annex, thus preventing any of the 
fumes of cooking from penetrating other parts, 
of the house. The bar room is one of the 
finest in the city, is 16x40 feet in dimensions,, 
and has a gentlemen's sitting room at the rear 
16x20 feet in size. The building was erected 
in 1693-4 and was opened for the reception of 
guests April 1, 1894. 



»«. #4/ 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



83 



St, Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church. 

This is a stone edifice two stories in height, but hav- 
ing only one floor. IL is located on the north corner of 
Thirteenth Street and Eighth Avenue, with rectory and 
parish school buildings at its side on Thirteenth Street, 
between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. The seating 
capacity of the church is 600, and the membership 275 
families; 715 baptized persons. Value of church prop- 
erty about $70,000. Rev. Allan Sheldon Woodle, the 
present pastor, is now entering on his twentieth year of 
continuous service in this church. 

This congregation was organized in the earlier years 
of the borough of Altoona, and they erected a stone 
church, very much smaller than this but of somewhat 
similar style, on the same site now occupied. It was 
razed to the ground to make room for this building in 
1881, and the present building constructed soon after; 
the corner stone being laid Saturday, September 3, 1881, 
and the building completed January 15, 1882. The 
rectory and adjoining schoolhouse were erected in 1858 
by the first rector of the parish, Rev. Robert W. Oliver, 
D. D., through gifts of General S. Watts DePeyster, of 
New York, as a memorial of his daughter, Maria L. 
DePeyster. General DePeyster also assisted largely in 
the erection of the adjoining and first church building. 

Christ's Reformed Church, 

This is a fine two-story stone building on the south 
corner of Twelfth Avenue and Fifteenth Street, with 
the parsonage at the west side of the church. Seating 
capacity of audience room on second floor, 450; member- 
ship, 565; value of property, $40,000; Rev. J. F. Moyer, 
pastor. The congregation wasorganized January, 1863, as 
a mission under the care of the Westmoreland Classis of 
the German Reformed Church in the United States, but 
in November of the same ) r ear it was received into the 
Mercersburg Classis, with which it is still connected. 
The first pastor was Rev. Cyrus Cert who began his 
work here January 1, 1863. Missionary support was 
continued until 1872, since which time the church has 
not only been self-supporting but has returned in benevo- 
lent contributions much more than it had received prior 
to that time. The church building was erected in 1864 
to 1868, excepting the spire, which was not completed 
until 1873. 

The First United Brethren Church, 

This is a two story frame building situated on the 
east corner of Eighth Avenue and Twelfth Street, with 
parsonage at the rear on same lot and fronting on the 
street. Value of church property, $25,000; seating ca- 
pacity of audience room on second flo'br, 475; member- 
ship, 460; Rev. A. L. Funk; pastor. The congregation 
was organized in 1854, and Rev. D. Speck was the first 
resident pastor in 1856, during which year the church 
was erected. In 1870 improvements were made to the 
amount of $3,000, and again in 1877 to the amount of 
$5,000. 



Trinity Reformed Church 

Is a new, two-story brick building on the south corner 
of Seventh Avenue and Eighth Street, with parsonage 
at the rear, fronting on the street. Seating capacity of 
audience room, 450; membership, 300; value of church 
property, about $20,000; Rev. Lewis Robb, Pastor. The 
congregation was organized December 21, 1888, and the 
church erected — corner stone laid July, 1890, and com- 
pleted and dedicated December 17, 1895. Rev. Lloyd 
Coblentz was the first pastor. 




Rev. Lewis Robb, Pastor Trinity Reformed Church, 
Although these two Reformed churches are of Ger- 
man orgin and connection, the English language is the 
one used in the pulpit here, and not a fourth of the con- 
gregation would understand it if German were spokea_ 

The Second Presbyterian Church, 

This church is situated on the southeast side of 
Eighth Avenue, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth 
Streets. It is a one-story brick building, with a two- 
story stone chapel at the rear. The buildings are large 
and fine, and the audience room, with the galleries, will 
seat about 1.200 people, and each floor of the chapel 
seats about 500. The membership is now 731. The 
parsonage is situated at 1430 Sixth Avenue. Value of 
church property, $80,000. Rev. H. H. Stiles, pastor. 

The congregation is a offshoot from the First Church, 
and was organized June 21, 1869, with 47 members. 
The first public services were held in Bell's Hall, on 
Twelfth Street and Seventh Avenue, July 11, 1869, by 
Rev. C. L. Kitchell. The church site was purchased in 
1870 for $4,500, and the chapel, begun soon after, was 
completed in the spring of 1871; services being held 
there and the building dedicated by Rev. David Hall, of 



84 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



Mansfield, O., April, 1871. The church building- proper 
was begun in August, 1875, and completed so that the 
first services were held December 17, 1876, Rev. George 
P. Haj-s, D. D., preaching the first sermon. 

The Second Methodist Episcopal Church, 

This church stands on the east corner of Eighth 
Avenue and Thirteenth Street, and is a two-story brick, 
having a seating capacity in the audience room of 700. 
The parsonage is No. 1422 Sixth Avenue, near Fifteenth 
Street, as the church building occupies nearly all the 
ground, owned by the society at that place. The church 
property is valued at $35,000 to 540,000. The present 
membership is 940. Rev. J. Ellis Bell, pastor. 

This congregation was organized in 1867 from mem- 
bers of the First Church, after a great revival had. 
swelled their number too great for the capacity of the 



This congregation was formed of members from the 
First church in 1671, the parent church having become 
over-crowded and the large membership residing on the 
East side requiring a more convenient place of worship. 

Services were held in Bell's Hall, corner of Seventh 
Avenue and Twelfth Street, for the first three years, 
during which time ground was secured and a building 
erected. Rev. George Scholl was the first pastor, 1871 
to 1874. The new church was so far completed on Feb- 
ruary 22, 1874, that services were held for the first time 
in the basement or lecture room. The audience room on 
the second floor was completed later and a parsonage 
built. In 1895 extensive improvements were made at a 
cost of 510,000, an extension being built at the rear and 
side, adding greatly to the seating capacity. 

The church and spire, although the latter is not as 
high as many others, is a prominent object when the 




Residence of Mrs. S. E. Burns, Sixteenth Street and Twelfth Avenue. (Beezer Bros., Architects.) 



mother church. The building was erected the same 
year. Rev. Jesse Bowman Young, who has attained 
great popularity and a national reputation as a gifted 
pulpit orator, was pastor of this church in 1881. 

Second Lutheran Church, 

This church building is a large and fine brick one, 
two stories in height, situated on the northwest 
side of Seventh Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth 
Streets, occupying Nos. 1108 and 111". Its seating 
capacity of audience room is about 1,000; the member- 
ship, 700. The parsonage at the side of the church is 
No. 1112 Seventh Avenue. Value of church prop- 
erty, about $60,000; Rev. J. F. Hartman, pastor, since 
January 1, 1888. 



city is viewed from an eminence on either side of the 
railroad. 

St, Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 

This is a two-story brick building on the south cor- 
ner of Fifth Avenue and Fourteenth Street, with pastor's 
residence, a new brick dwelling at the west side, adjoin- 
ing. At the re^r of the church building, and standing 
on the west corner of Fourth Avenue and Fourteenth 
Street, is the parochial school building, an imposing 
brick structure rendered more striking by its situation 
on the high ground. On Fourth Avenue, a short dis 
tance west of the school house, is the residence of the 
nuns who teach the children in attendance at the schools. 






x x illustrated altoona. x 



85 



The value of the property of this congregation is ah. ml 
$75,000 to $80,000. The membership is over 2,000. 
Rev. D. Zwickert, rector. 

This church was organized in 1860 from the Ger- 
man-speaking Catholics who had. prior to that time, 
worshiped at St. John's Church. German is the 
language of this congregation. Father Charles Schuller 
was the first resident priest. The corner stone of this 
church was laid in 1860, but the building was not fully 
completed until 1874, although sufficiently so to he used 
for worship since 1861. 

St. James German Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

This is one of the large churches of the city, having 
been recently rebuilt; it is a two-story brick, standing on 
the south corner of Eighth Avenue and Fourteenth 
Street; a parsonage stands at the west side of the church. 
Seating capacity of the audience room, 750; membership, 



at the rear and facing the street. Seating capacity, 
(foldingchairs) OHO; membership, 400; value of church 
property, $40,000; Rev. G. T. Gray, pastor. 

Church of God. 

This church is a two-story brick-cased building on 
the south corner of [fifth Avenue and Thirteenth Street, 
and the parsonage occupies the rear part of the same 
lot, fronting on Thirteenth Street. Seating capacity of 
audience room, SOU; membership, 105; value of church 
property, $15,000 to S18,000; Rev.W. J.Grissinger, pastor. 

This congregation was organized early in 1863 by 
Elder Jacob Bovcr who was in charge of the Martinsburg 
Circuit. A building was erected and partially completed 
the same year. It was used as a house of worship in its 
incomplete state until 1876, when it was enlarged and 
finished, and two years later the parsonage was built. 




Residence of F. P. Confer, Sixteenth Street, corner Sixteenth Avenue. (Beezer Bros, Architects,) 



600; value of church property, $50,000 to $60,000; Rev. 
J. Mueller, Pastor. The congregation was organized in 
1860, and the first church building erected on this site 
in 1862. Rev. J. H. Schmidt was the first pastor. The 
church services are conducted in the German language. 

Chestnut Avenue M. E. Church. 

This church is also an outgrowth of the First. The 
congregation was organized in 1872 and the church 
erected in 1874, but the audience room on second floor 
was not completed until 18S2. The building is a two- 
story brick situated on the south corner of Chestnut 
Avenue and Tenth Street, with parsonage on same lot 



Fourth Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

This is a two-story brick on the north corner of How- 
ard Avenue and Second Street, with parsonage at the 
rear on Second Street. Seating capacity of audience 
room, 450; membership, 200; value of church property, 
$25,000; Rev. D. S. Lentz, Pastor. 

This congregation was organized in 1881, and built 
a small frame church on Second Street, between Howard 
and Walnut Avenues, where they worshiped until the 
present structure was so far completed as to have ser- 
vices in the basement or lecture room. Rev. D. R. P. 
Barry was pastor for a number of years and deserves a. 
large part of the credit for erecting this building. He 



86 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



was designer, architect and builder, with the assistance 
of his congregation, and the fine brick church is a mon- 
ument to his zeal and industry. 

Brethren or German Baptist, 

This is a one-story fr.irue situated on the east corner 
of Sixth Avenue and Fifth Street. Seating- capacity, 
350; membership, 150; value of church property, §6,000; 
Rev. J. W. Wilt, Pastor. 

The congregation was formed in 1869 and worshiped 
for several years in a small building on Eighth Avenue, 
between Twenty-first and Twenty-second Streets, but in 



African M, E, Church, 

This is a frame building on the south corner of Six- 
teenth Street and Union Avenue, near Eleventh Avenue. 
Seating capacity, 200; membership, 50; value of church 
property, $5,o00; Rev. Joseph P. Stephens, Pastor. 

This church is the old Union church and school house, 
erected here in 1838, long before Altoona had been 
thought of, and when the region was very sparsely in- 
habited. It was on the public road leading from Collins- 
ville to Ebensburg, in Cambria County. The present 
congregation was organized in 1858, and secured this 
building, then used as a dwelling, and repaired it to its 
present comfortable condition in 1879. 




Proposed Memorial Chapel, Fairview Cemetery. 



1874 they bought the present church building which 
had been built as a mission chapel by the Second Method- 
ist congregation and afterward used as a dwelling. It 
was remodeled and has since been occupied b} 7 the 
Brethren. This religious denomination has some pecu- 
liar characteristics, and its members are sometimes 
called Tunkers or Dunkards by the outside world. They 
do not maintain a salaried pastor, but their ministers are 
self-supporting. Immersion is the only form of baptism* 
recognized by them. The men do not shave their beards; 
the woman have a peculiar dress, devoid of ornamenta- 
tion; they practice the washing of feet; do not bear 
arms nor go to law with each other, nor anyone, if 
avoidable. 



(Robinson L Crocket, Architects,) 

Mt, Zion Second Baptist Church (Colored,) 



This is a frame building on Fifth Avenue and Twen- 
ty-second Street; one-story in height, with a seating 
capacity of 300; value of church property, $3,000; mem- 
bership, 50. 

The congregation was first organized in 1873, under 
the auspices of the First church. They worshiped in a 
building on Eighth Avenue, between Twenty-first and 
Twenty-second Streets for a while, and in 1876 built a 
two-story frame building on Bridge Street, between 
Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, on leased ground, where 
they remained until about 1890, when the present church 
building - was erected. 



t x illustrated altoona, x x 



87 



Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church. 

This is a one-story brick building situated on the 
■corner of Sixth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, with 
parsonage at 2212 Sixth Avenue. Seating capacity of 
church, 550; membership, 370; value of church property, 
$12,00(1. Rev. George M. Hoke, pastor. 

This congregation was organized in March, 1881, and 
was the outgrowth of a mission Sunday School started 
by the Eighth Avenue congregation in 1872. A chapel 
was erected on the west corner of Eighth Avenue and 
Twenty-fourth Street, for the Sunday School, and here, 
after the organization of the congregation, services were 
held until the erection of the present structure in 1887. 






St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church. 



A single-story frame building on the corner of West 
Chestnut Avenue and Thirtieth Street. Seating capacity, 
400; membership, 130; value of church property, $5,000; 
Rev. E. J. Mctzler, Pastor since February 1, 1889; resi- 
dence 3007 Broad Avenue. 

The congregation was organized in 1881, and the 
church built in 1882; Rev. J. J. Kerr, was the first pas- 
tor 1 Rev. P. G. Bell, now of the Gazette Companj', was 
pastor for thee years. 






Memorial Baptist Church. 



A one-story frame building on the south corner of 
Fifth Avenue and Sixth Street. Seating capacity, 300; 
membership, 162; value of church property, $4,000; Rev. 
W. Moncure Jennings, pastor; residence, 1219 Fifth 
Avenue. 

This was originally a mission chapel of the First 
Baptist congregation, but in October 9, 1889, a congre- 
gation was regularly org-anized, and George W. Down- 
ing became the first regular pastor. 

Second United Brethren Church. 

This is a two-story brick church situated on Fifth 
Avenue, between Second and Third Streets, with a seat- 
ing capacity of 600. Value of the building, $12,000. 

This congregation was organized and the building 
erected in 1S8S. Rev. H. A. Buffington, was first pastor. 
The present membership is 285. The present pastor 
is Rev. S. S. Hough, 601 Sixth Avenue. 

Walnut Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. 

This is an attractive frame church building, one 
•story in height, situated on the north corner of Walnut 
Avenue and Third Street; no parsonage attached; seat- 
ing capacity, 350; value of building and lot, $5,000; 
Rev. C. L. Benscoter, pastor; resides at 326 Howard 
Avenue. 

This church is the outgrowth of a Sunday school, 
organized by William L. Woodcock, Esq., in the sum- 
mer of 1S89, and for some time taught by him in his 



own building, 315 Lexington avenue. The growth of 
the school necessitated larger quarters, and the parents 
of the children being thus brought into closer contact 
with religious teaching, were induced to form a congre- 
gation. The organization was completed in 1890; the 
church erected and dedicated October 11, 1892, largely 
through the contributions of Mr. Wo:jdc >ck, whose inter- 
est in its success never abated, and who has been Super- 
intendent of the Sunday school since its inception. Rev. 
Luther F. Smith was the first pastor. 

This church, along with the Juniata and Fairview 
churches, constitutes the North Altoona circuit, and all 
these are in charge of one pastor, Rev. C. L. Benscoter. 




Rev, J. W. Bain, Pastor First Presbyterian Church. 

The Fairview and Juniata churches are both frame build- 
ings, one story in height, and seating 250 to 300 persons 
each. Total membership of the three charges, 400. 

Broad Avenue Presbyterian Church. 

This is a fine new stone church just being completed 
on the corner of Broad Avenue and Twenty-fourth 
Street. Seating capacity of auditorium will be 450, and 
lecture room 300; membership is 125; value of lot and 
church building, S35,000. Rev. Howard H. Campbell is 
pastor, with residence at 2522 Broad Avenue. The con- 
gregation was organized September, 1892, and held serv- 
icss for aboot two years in a small frame building on the 
rear of the lot where the church is now erected. 

Juniata Presbyterian Church. 

This is a neat frame building on the south corner of 
Seventh Avenue and John Street, Juniata. Has no par- 
sonage attached. Value of property, $5,000; membership 
100; seating capacity 400. Rev. Emil Lewey, the pres- 
ent pastor, was the first one installed. The congrega- 
tion was organized July 22, 1892, and the church com- 
pleted in November, 1893. 



88 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



Orthodox Jewish Synagogue. 

This is a one-story frame building- on the east side 
of Seventeenth Street, between Thirteenth and Four- 
teenth Avenues. Seating- capacity, 350; membership, 
35; value of church property, $5,000; Rev. S. Horwitz, 
rabbi. 

The congregation was organized in 1892, and the 
synagogue erected in 1893. 

Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

A one-story frame building on the west corner of 
Third Avenue and Second Street. Seating capacity, 



Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. 




Fourth Lutheran Church, Corner Howard Avenue and Third Street. 

425; membership, 185; value of church property, $5,000. 
Rev. Howard M. Heilman, pastor — resides at 200 Fifth 
Avenue. The congregation was organized in June, 1893, 
and the church building erected in the autumn of the 
same year. 

St. Mark's Roman Catholic Church. 

This is a comparatively new building, and is located 
on the west corner of Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue. 
It is two stories in height, but with only one floor. Pas- 
toral residence at the rear, facing Sixth Avenue; seat- 
ing capacity, 1,000; value of church property, $50,000; 
membership, 1,800; Rev. N. J. O'Reilly, rector. The 
congregation was organized in 1890, and the church 
erected in 1891; dedicated 1892. 



This is a brick building, two stories high, on [the 
southeast side of Sixth Avenue between Twentieth and 
Twenty-first Streets. Pastoral residence 2001 Sixth 
Avenue. Seating capacity of audience room, 700; value 
of church property, $40,000. Parochial school occupie 
part of the building. Membership 1,500. Rev. Thoma 
P. Smith, rector. The congregation was organized i 
1890 and the church erected in 1891. 

Emanuel Church Evangelical Association. 

H This is a frame building on the east corner of 
Fifth Street and Fifth Avenue, one story in height; 
seating capacity, 250 to 300; membership, 76; value 
of church property, $3,300 (parsonage $2,100); par- 
sonage in rear of church; Rev. A. H. Wendt, 
pastor. 

This is a German congregation, and services- 
are in that tongue. It was organized in 1884, and 
the church erected in 1887. 

Other Congregations — No Church Buildings. 

Disciples of Christ. Congregation organized 
1S95; about 20 members; Rev. Aloinz Brunner, pas- 
tor; worship in Earlenbaugh's Hall, corner of 
Fourth Street and Lexington Avenue. Disorgan- 
ized and almost disbanded. 

First United Presbyterian Church. 

This is a one-story brick building on the north 
corner of Howard Avenue and Fourth Street, and 
the parsonage is at 407 Howard Avenue. Seating- 
capacity of church, 250; value of church and par- 
sonage, $8,000. Rev. R. A. Hutchison, pastor. The 
congregation was organized September 12, lS9l r 
and the church dedicated July 2, 1893. Rev. R. A. 
Hutchison was the first pastor. 

Fifth Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. 

A one-story frame building situated on the south 

corner of Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street, with 

parsonage at its side on the avenue, between Fourth 

and Fifth Streets. Seating capacity of church, 

500; membership, 400; value of church property, $8,000; 

Rev. Samuel W. Sears, pastor. 

The first move toward the organization of this con- 
gregation was in February 1885, when C. H. Brown, J. 
N. Tillard, J. B. Bowles, T. D. Hughes and a few 
others, members of the Eighth Avenue Methodist 
Church, met at the home of C. H. Brown to consider the 
matter of organizing a Methodist Sunday School in the 
east end of the city. A school was started, and soon 
after the movement for a church took definite shape. A 
lot was purchased on the corner of Third Avenue and 
Second Street and a charter procured for a church, to be 
called the Third Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. 
This location was not satisfactory and soon after- 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



89 



wards the lot was sold and the present one procured, and 
the charter amended, September 1886, to "Fifth* Avenue 
Methodist Episcopal Church." A frame building- 30x40 
feet was erected and dedicated October, 1886. 

In June of 1887 Rev. J. B. Stein was appointed as- 
sistant to Samuel Creighton, pastor of the Eighth Ave- 
nue Church, and he became the first pastor of this con- 
gregation, it still remaining- a dependency of the Eighth 
Avenue charge. In the autumn of that year an addition 
was built to the first structure, bringing it up to its 
present size, and the new building- was re-dedicated Feb- 
ruary, 1SSS. 

In March 1888 this congregation was made a separate 
charge, with Rev. J. B. Stein pastor. 

Third Presbyterian Church. 

This is a frame building- situated on the corner of 
Fifth Avenue and Second Street. Has no parsonage 
building. Seating capacity, 500; membership, 300; 
value of church property, $7,000. Rev. J. E. Irvine, 
pastor. The congregation was organized in January, 
188 1 ), and J. E. Irvine was the first pastor. Residence, 
•610 Sixth Avenue. 

Epworth Memorial M, E, Church. 

This is a one-story frame building on the corner of 
Broad Avenue and Twenty-ninth Street, and was dedi- 
cated August 11, 1895. Seating capacity, 300; value of 
building and ground, $3,000; membership, including 
probationers, 70; Rev. W. Hirst Reed, pastor. The con- 
gregation was formed in Februar}', 1895, and held meet- 
ings in a leased room until the erection of the church. 
Rev. Samuel Lower preached for the first few months. 
It was expected that the Epworth Leagues of Central 
Pennsylvania would contribute liberally to the erection 
of this church, hence the name; but they have signally 
failed in this, and the congregation are paying for it 
themselves. 

First Brethren or Progressive Dunkard Church, 

Organized in 1894; 55 members; worship in a leased 
building corner West Chestnut Avenue and Thirtieth 
Street; Rev. W. L. Spanogle, of Roaring Spring, pastor. 

First Church of Christ, 

Organized in 1894; 40 members; Rev. E. Lee Perry, 
pastor; worship at 719 Chestnut Avenue in leased build- 
ing. 

Gospel Home, 

A branch of the Baptist denomination and Christian 
science believers. Rev. F. H. Senft, pastor. Meetings 
at the home, 142S Eighth Avenue, every Sunday; also 
week day meetings. 

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 

Just organized, Januar) r , 1S96, from members former- 
ly of the First Church principally. Services are held 
regularly in the Hare building, Chestnut Avenue, be- 
tween Ninth and Tenth Streets. No pastor has yet 



been called, but Rev. Fiery has been preaching. A 
church will be erected by this congregation at an early 
date in the First Ward, but the precise location has not 
been definitely decided upon; 150 members now. 

Salvation Army. 

This organization holds services in a leased second 
story room on north corner of Eleventh Avenue and 
Ninth Street; also on the streets Sunday afternoons; 25 
regular members. James Ruge, captain. The organ- 
ization flourished quite strongly in Altoona about the 
years 1885 and 1886, then interest died out and there 
were no officers nor public services here for several years 
The present contingent located here in November, 1893 

Union Chapel. 

Union Chapel is a small frame building in Fairview, 
about Twenty-fourth Avenue and Clinton Street, erected 
in 1893 or 1894 and used for a Sunday School by some 
Protestant families. 

P. R. R. Young Men's Christian Association. 

This organization is a member of the Young Men's 
Christian Association of America, though at first organ- 
ized as an independent society. All the members are 
employes of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and 
are members of one of the Evangelical churches of the 
city. The Association occupies a suite of rooms on the 
second floor of No. 1300 Eleventh Avenue, where they 
have been since their first organization. These rooms 
consist of a reading room, a conversation room and as- 
sembly room. The reading room contains a library of 
about 1,000 volumes and a large number of periodicals, 
beside the daily papers. Religious services are held 
every Sunday afternoon and on several evenings during 
the week. The Sunday afternoon meetings are fre- 
quently held in one of the churches and cottage prayer 
meetings are held at the homes of some of the railroad 
men two evenings each week. 

A General Secretary is employed, Mr. H. J. Auker- 
man. who devotes his entire time to the religious and 
charitable work of the Association, holding meetings, 
visiting the sick and injured, etc. The Association was 
formed February 24, 1876, as a Railroad Men's Christian 
Association, but in 1877 became a member of the gen- 
eral body of the Young Men's Christian Association. 
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company contributes 
liberally to the support of this organization, and are 
about to provide larger and better quarters, which will 
include bath rooms, gymnasium, etc., and are likely to 
be located on the opposite corner of the avenue in part 
of the Logan House yard. 

First Young Men's Christian Association. 

As early as 1863 or 1864 a Young Men's Christian 
Association was formed in Altoona, the membership not 
being confined to railroad employes. This Association 
occupied rooms over the Mechanics', now the Fidelity, 



90 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



Bank, from 1870 to 1874, when they changed to Twelfth 
Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, (over 
Hurd's book store) remaining- here for three years. The 
organization of the Railroad Men's Christian Associa- 
tion in 1876 took away the greater part of their active 
members, and for several years the business meetings 
were held at the residence of a member in order to avoid 
expense, but about 1882 the Association recovering from 
the loss sustained by the withdrawal of the railroad 
men, secured and fitted up a nice suite of rooms in a 
building on Twelfth Street between Eighth and Ninth 
Avenues, and employed Mr. W. P. Gregory as General 
Secretary. In 1887, on the completion of the Woodcock 
Arcade, they removed to it and had a suite of four 
rooms — parlor, reading room, conversation room and 
chapel, and J. R. King became General Secretary; but 
the expense of maintaining this and the General Secretary 
proved too great for the members to bear; the associa- 
tion got into debt, some of the members withdrew, the 



furniture was taken for the rent due. Mr. King, after a 
vain effort to keep it alive, gave up the task and went 
away from town, and the Association practically dis- 
banded. 

Ministerial Association, 



3- 



This is an organization composed of the pastors of 
the Protestant churches of the city who hold regular 
meetings each Monday morning at 10:30 in the assembly 
room of the Pennsylvania Railroad Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, for the discussion of matters which 
interest all in common; one great object being to .culti- 
vate harmony and friendly feeling between the different 
denominations, and secure united action in advancing 
the cause of Christianity and good morals in the com- 
munity. This Association was formed in 1885 or 1886, and 
includes among its membership the greater part of the 
ministers in the city. Rev. M. L. Ganoe is president 
this year. 



^ 




Blair County Almshouse, Near Hollidaysburg. (Robinson and Crocket, Architects). 



ititi^ 

pi 

-!-' ■ :-'-:-■-:■'-;- '-I- 1 -:- 1 -:- '-:-'-:-' -:-'■:■' - : - ■ - : - -:- -;- - : - -:- -:- -:- -;- -:- ■■ 



X 



CEMETERIES, 




JHERE are five cemeteries within the limits of 
the city, and two very line and large ones have 
recently been laid out a considerable distance 
beyond, since it has become apparent that Altoona will 
soon cover all the ground near by. 

Fairvicw is the oldest of all these, having been laid 
out about the year 1857. Its location is on Willow Ave- 
nue, between Ninth and Fifth Streets, and it extends 
back to the present city line at Eighteenth Avenue, con- 
taining over twenty acres, lying most beautifully for the 
purpose. It was some distance out of town at that date, 
but is now surrounded on all sides with dwellings, and 
in a few years more the question of its removal will" 
doubtless be considered. It is owned by an incorporated 
association, but the stockholders receive no profits or 



dividends, all revenue derived from sale of lots is devoted 
to improvements. It is used exclusively by the Protest- 
ant denominations, and no colored persons are interred 
there. It contains a fine soldiers' monument, erected in 
1867, to the soldiers of Altoona and Logan Township 
who fell in the late War of the Rebellion. There are 
four fine vaults in this cemetery, and many large and 
beautiful monuments. It is ornamented with many 
shade trees, and the walks and driveways are now being- 
covered with finely-broken stone. The officers of this 
cemetery are A. Claybaugh, Secretary, with office on the 
corner of Eighth Avenue and Twelfth Street, and Rob- 
ert Cox, Sexton, with residence — the property of the 
Association — opposite the entrance at Willow Avenue, 
near Eighth street. 




Ministerial Association. 



92 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 




Masonic Temple, cor. Eleventh Street and Twelfth Avenue. 

St. John's Cemetery, belonging- to St. John's Roman 
Catholic Church, is finely located on the summit of 
Prospect Hill, Twelfth Street and First Avenue. In ex- 
tent it is not so large as Fairview, but it is now nearly 
filled with graves, and is not likely to be used for supul- 
ture much longer. The grounds here were purchased 
and laid out for a cemetery in 1858. There is one vault 
and a number of fine monuments and headstones. John 
O'Neil, secretary, Joseph Ryan is sexton. 

St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery lies on the southeast side 
of St. John's, and is of about the same general character, 
and is the property of St. Mary's German Catholic 
Church. It was laid out in 1879. Both these cemeteries 
command a fine view of Pleasant Valley\ 

Oak Ridge Cemetery. This cemetery is the out- 
growth of the conviction of many members of the Prot- 
estant churches on the Fast Side that they ought to have 
a cemetery on that side of the railroad. The ground 
was purchased from G. T. Bell in 1878, and consists of 
plot of nine acres lying beyond First Avenue and be- 
tween Ninth and Twelfth Streets. The location is an 
eligible one, with an extensive view of Pleasant Valley 
and Brush Mountain beyond to the southeast. All re- 
ceipts from the sale of lots are devoted to improvements, 
and the appearance of the cemetery is neat and tasty, 
many of the walks being of finely-broken stone, and the 
monuments and headstones of original and pleasing de- 
sign. A new receiving vault was erected in 1S95. H. 
B. Kendig is Secretary, and Thomas Stewart, Sexton. 

The Hebrew Cemeteries, two in number, are small in- 



closures, lying side by side, near the Dry Gap Road, 
about one mile northwest of the city line. They are 
reached by going out Washington Avenue from Four- 
teenth Avenue. They do not exhibit much evidence of 
care, and contain no large monuments. 

Eastern Light Cemetery. This is located at Tenth 
Street and First Avenue, adjoining Oak Ridge on the 
northwest. It is a small plot, and devoid of ornamen- 
tation. It is used exclusively by the colored people of 
the city without regard to denomination. 

New Calvary is a new cemetery, owned by the Roman 
Catholic congregations of the city. It consists of a tract 
of nearly one hundred acres, lying south of Pleasant 
Valley Road and between Collinsville and Old Allegheny 
Furnace. It has not yet been fully plotted, but will 
eventually take the place of the other two Catholic ceme- 
teries as a place of burial, as they are small and pretty well 
filled up. John O'Neil, secretary; Joseph Ryan, sexton. 

Greenwood Cemetery is a new one, laid out in 1894 
and 1895 by a number of enterprising business men. 
It is expected to return some revenue to stockholders, 
and, from its beautiful location and ample extent — 
— nearly forty acres — it will doubtless prove a favorite 
place of interment with many, and especially with those 
who are not prescribed by denominational limitations. 
It is situated about one mile east of the eastern limits 
of the Eighth Ward and nearly south of Juniata Bor- 
ough. It is also in the vicinity of the old Pottsgrove 
Mill and settlement. It is reached by a carriage road 
continuing beyond Sixth Avenue and First Street, and 
the Logan Valley Electric Railway will soon build a 
line there. They already run within half a-mile of it. 
When this is done it will be very easy of access. A 
costly monument will be erected ere long by the Grand 
Army of the Republic. J. D. Bloomhart is secretary. 




One of Beezer Bros.' Cottages, Llyswen, on A. & L. V. R. R. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



93 




Residence of John T. Fluke, Twelfth Avenue corner Nineteenth Street. 



Previous to establishment of Altoona cemeter- 
ies mentioned on page 'J2, and many years be- 
fore Altoona's beginning, there was a small bury- 
ing ground on an eminence east of the Old Alle- 
gheny Furnace, and, beginning with the erection 
of the Union Church, in 1838, where the colored 
Methodist Church now stands, Sixteenth Street 
and Union Avenue, a cemetery was enclosed em- 
bracing part of the squares now included be- 
tween Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets and 
Tenth and Twelfth Avenues. 

This cemetery, prior to the building of the 
railroad, was only a country burying ground, 
with a few scattered graves. But the rapid 
growth of Altoona during the earlier years, and 
before the opening of Fairview, made more fre- 
quent demands on its space, and it was soon 
pretty well filled up. Then, when it became ap- 
parent that the ground here would be wanted for 
building sites, the Fairview and St. John's Cem- 
eteries were laid out, and interments in this one 
discontinued. The town began to build up all 
around, and ere long the land was sold and the 
bodies removed to give place to the growing city, 
but it was not until about 1865 that the old 
Union Graveyard ceased to be. The present gen- 
eration only learn of it accidentally. 

In like manner, eie the close of the coming 
century, Fairview, Oak Ridge and St. John's will 
exist ^in history only, while their sites will be 
covered by a bustling, thriving city, whose 
numbers will be told by the hundreds of thou- 
sands. 








E. March, Clothier. 



Residence of S. A, Gailey, 1124 Sixteenth Avenue. 



94 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 




Cold Storage Buildings of Gaorge Back, Sixth Avenue corner Twenty-first Street. 




New Electric Light Plant of Edison Electric Illuminating Co., Union Avenue, 
between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. ?C ?£ 



95 




Residence of D. Koeh, corner Ninth Street and Lexington Avenue. 




Point View>nd Cottages on Juniata River, between Hollidaysburg and Williamsburg. 



96 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X 





x a; illustrated altoona, zc x 



97 




3 8 



WW 

£1 



© © 

s © 

O «2 




3 5 

> . 

pq - 



3 rf 






98 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 





-./'A: : 



wn. L. WOODCOCK, 

Ctttorne a»qt»£a in, 

Solicitor Alloona and Excelsior Building and Loan Associations. 

Rooms 1-2-3 WOODCOCK r.iiiniM,. 
Eleventh Ave. hct. Fourteenth mid Fifteenth Sts. 



JAS. H. CRAIO. 



GEO. B. liOWEHS. 



CRAIG 8t BOWERS, 

AttornevH - &t - _L^s>a^, 



SECOND FLOOR, MATEER BUILDING. 



A General Le£al Business Conducted in all the 

Courts of Blair County. Business entrusted 

to us will receive careful attention. 



EDMUND SHHW, 

HUTOONH, F>Jt. 



A. V. DIVELY, 

Attorney- at -Law. 

SOLICITOR FOR 
Allegheny Loan and Building Association. 
Dquitable Loan and Building Association. 
Teutonia Loan and Building Association. 
Iron City Saving and Loan Association of 

Pittsburg, Pa. 



ME ONLY German Newspaper in Blair County -^ ^ ^ 

Circulates a lso Largely in Surrounding Counties. 

L. G. LAMADE, Editor and Publisher. 

AN EXCELLENT ADVERTISING MEDIUM. It is a live, zvide-awake -weekly and circulates among the very 

— best class of buyers. ■ 

OFFICE: 610=12 East Twelfth Street, Altoona, Pa. 



J. S. Lkisenking. 



W. W. Atkinson. 



LEISENRING & ATKINSON, 

Attorneys -at- Law, 



-CASANAVE BLOCK. 



H. PRICE GRAFFIUS, 
flttoFney"at»liaui, 

— AND — 

United States Commissioner, 

Western District of Pennsyt 
ALTOONA. PA. 



tV. H. COVER. 



H. A. DAVIS. 



COVER & DAVIS, 
ATTORNEYS- J^ST= 1^ J^SST 

Collections and all Legal Business Attended to with prompt- 
ness and fidelity. MONEY LOANED. 
1325 ELEVENTH SVENUE, - HLLTOONZI. 



THOS. H. GREEVY. 



HARRY F. WALTERS. 



GREEVY & WALTERS, 
*? Clttorney s - at - £cttp, 4 

1307 Eleventh Ave., 

ALTOONA, PA. 

CHAFES B. CLiAf^, 
Attorney-at-Law and Notary Public, 

SOLICITOR MODEL BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION. 
Special attention given to Building and Loan Association business. 
OFFICE IN ARCADE BUILDING. 
1^7 1426 Eleventh Avenue, - - ALTOONA. 



108 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, .X 



Evolution of a Great Business, 

The Department Store of William F. Gable 
& Co. is a feature of the city of Altoona. The 
pulse of a city is best felt in its business es- 
tablishments; and nowhere is the city's prog- 
ress better mirrored than by the rapid and 
solid growth of this up-to-date house. 

On March 1, 1884 this house began its ex- 
istance, in a small way, in a single room, 
probably 25x40 feet in size. One year's bus- 
iness forced it into larger quarters, at 1402 
Eleventh Avenue, from which time its growth 
has been miraculous. On December 8, 1892, 
this firm threw open to the public the doors of 
the "Daylight Store," one of the handsomest 
and best adapted buildings in the state for a 
great department store. The half-tone on 
this page gives an idea of the handsome 
copper front, so generously cut up with large 
light-giving windows; which, together with 
the two large sky-lights shown in the interior 
views, give the house its well-earned name — 
"The Daylight Department Store." 



FACTS ABOUT THE BIG STORE. 

Built of Brick, Iron and Copper. 

Three Stoi ies and Big- Basement. 

Fifty feet front— 120 feet deep. 

500,000 Brick used in construction. 

Over 90 Tons of Iron used in construction. 

"Walls 30 inches thick — fire-proof. 

Beautiful Copper Front — Three Stories High. 

Most Perfectly Lighted Store in the State. 





FACTS ABOUT THE BIG STORE. 

Daylight by day — Electricity by night. 

Hardwood finish — Canadian Brown Ash. 

Perfect Ventilation — 28 large Ventilating Flues, 

terra cotta lined, lead from salesrooms on all 

floors to roof. 
Hot Water Heating throughout the building; 

pipes placed in front of counters near floor; 

aisles not obstructed by radiators. 
Six Beautiful Show Windows — French Plate Glass 

Windows. Display Windows on Second Floor. 

Large Swinging Glass Windows. 

Copper-lined B.ilcony off Second StO'y Front. 
Hard Beechwood Floors. 
Most Modern Cash Carrier— Electric Cable system 

carries cash from 30 stations. 
Furnished throughout with modern Nickle Display 

Fixtures. 
150 employes. Waiting Room and Toilets for 

Ladies. Packages taken care of. 
First Floor — Everything in Dry Goods. 
Second Floor — Millinery, Cloaks, Curtains, Win- 
dow Shades, etc. 
Basement — Housefurnishings, Glass and China 

ware. 
Third Floor — Storage — Reserve Stock. 



Gable L Co.'s — Interior View of Store. 



<3C ?C ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



109 



Not only Altoona — not only Blair County 
— but all Central Pennsylvania come to 
"William F. Gable & Co. for dry goods. The 
improvement and extension of their Mail 
Order Department during' the past year 
have won for them the title of "Quickest 
Mail Order House in Central Pennsylvania. 
The great success of this feature only adds 
one more proof to the fact that Altoona is 
the natural base of supply for dntral 
Pennsylvania; and, incidentally, shows the 
energy and progressiveness of this hand- 
somely equipped house. 

Gable & Co. make no secret of what is 
to be found in their- great house. In fact, 
no house outside the great cities is making 
greater or more successful efforts at public- 
ity. This department is in the hands of an 
advertising manag-er who devotes all his 
time and energy to telling Altoona and all 
Central Pen.isj'lvania what the great store 
is and what it can do for them. The fact 
that the house realizes that its advertising is of suffi- 
cient importance to employ a specialist to attend to it, 
in itself proves them to be up-to-date and actively pro- 
gressive, and accounts for their ever-extending business 
boundaries. 

The people of Altoona are exceedingly fortunate in 
having in their midst a store that presents to them so 
promptly arid abundantly everything new, stylish and 
■desirable from the markets of the world. The buyers 
of the house keep in constant touch with the production 
of the markets, and Altoona shoppers are served simul- 
taneously with those of metropolitan cities with the best 
and latest that the market affords. 





Gable & Co.'s— Interior View of Store, 



Gable L Co.'s — Interior View of Store, 

The store is a model, visited and admired by mer- 
chants from far and near. Its excellent construction, 
its generous allowance of light, its modern fixtures and 
furnishings, so constantly cared for by the decorators, 
are noted with interest and profit by merchants of much 
larger cities. 

The future of this house is promising. Its future 
growth is certain. It is conducted on the principles that 
compel popularity — careful attention to every detail of 
the service. Sparing no pains to give perfect satisfac- 
tion to all patrons, it is assured of the constant, ever- 
growing success which is but the natural consequence of 
the qualities and energy displayed by the 
managing proprietor whose name it bears. 

There is a large class of people, aside 
from the buyers and consumers, who have 
great reasons for entertaining a warm feel- 
ing of gratitude for this firm — the clerks 
and salesmen and women, who number in 
the city considerably more than one thou- 
sand, and of whom Gable & Co. employ 
nearly two hundred. Formerly the hours 
of labor for this class were very long. 
They were expected to be at their posts by 
7 in the morning and remain at night till 
the last straggling customer departed. 
Gable & Co. inaugurated a change in this, 
which, of necessity, was followed by other 
employers, and, as a result, most of the 
stores now close at 6 o'clock in the evening, 
excepting on Saturdays, thus giving the 
clerks a chance to have five evenings at 
home. This new departure is found to be 
equally beneficial to the merchant, as the 
same amount of goods is sold in a year. 



First National Bank 

OF ALTOONA, PA. 



JOHN LLOYD, President. 



HENRY CRYDER, Cashier. 



United States Depository, 

CAPITAL STOCK, $150,000.00. 
SUKPLUS FUND, $69,500.00. 

Transacts a General Banking Business. Buys and sells Gov- 
ernment Bonds of all issues at market rates. 

J. S. ELtWAY, 

2^ai N General Merchandise 

SND RESL ESTBTE, 

835 Eighth Avenue, Altoona, Pa. 



.5. •$■ Wall Paper Hanging Done by 

% WALL FflFER. % 



Experienced Workmen. 



t JTflTIONERT. 



I BLANK BOOKS. % 

* * ESTIMATES . CHEERFULLY . FURNISHED, 

The Best Selected Line of 

In the Country. .-. Samples Furnished Free of Charge. Would be pleased! 
to hear from you. 

t. c. McCartney, 

1307 Eleventh Avenue, ... ALTOONA. 



HENRY H. LANGDON, _=^ 

Wholesale and Retal Dealer in 

FLOUR, FEED, HAY, STRAW, Etc, 

Klso Country Produce. 
No. 718 FOURTH STREET, near Eighth Avenue, ALTOONA. 



y. W?. fay. 



jfc. ■?(, JVutchison. 



ft. f. Jay. 



Fay, Hutchison & Company, 

u/holesale SrocerSj 

Jxltoona, iPa. 

Wholesale jigents for the Celebrated "Columbia ^lour." 



FORNEY & GOSSARD, 
Real Estate, Fire Insurance, 

LOAN BROKERS and MANUFACTURERS' AGENTS. 

1204 Eighth Avenue, « - ALTOONA. 

FINE 
PORTRAITS 

IN 

Crayon 

AND WATER COLORS. 

Finest Work at Lowest Prices. 

C, F KORB, Artist 




I30S ELEVENTH AVENUE, 



KLTOONB, J»2S. 



M. POET, 

Steam (Cabinet IDorks. 

A General Line of all Kinds of Cabinet Work and also Turnings. 
Repair Work done on short notice. 
MILL, BESIDENCE, 

1720 Union Avenue. 1725 Eleventh Avenue 

C. E. WOLF HARDWARE C2. 

DEALERS IN 

Hardware, Stoves and House Furnishings, 

We carry a Complete Line of Builders' Hardware, and would be pleased tO' 
Quote Prices. We are the sole agents for the famous 

fttinshioe f^nges end J^toVes. 

When in need of any goods in our line, give us a call. 

C. L. WOLF HARDWARE. CO. 

110 1414 Eleventh Avenue, - - ALTOONA, 




C. H. CLOSSON, M. 1)., 

Office and Residence, 913 Howard Avenue, 
ALTOONA, PA. 



SECRETARY BOARD OV HEALTH. 



OPPOSITE 

^fe PASSENGER DEPOT, 



H Livery Stable, H 

No. 1206 THIRTEENTH AVE. 

Hacks and Teams for Funerals and Weddings a "p'"'"'^ ■ 



W. S. McKEAN, * ♦ ♦ 

WHOLESALE 

% * + Confectioner, 

AND JOBBER OF SPECIALTIES. 



704-6 Green Ave. 



Altootta, Pa. 



j Pennsylvania Ice Co. 



."■■! 



Capacity SO, 000 TONS. * 

5 



LIMITED. 



F. H- SEELiY, 



Manager;. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



ALTOONA, PA, 



Franklin Forge, { 

Blair County, 5 

PENNA. R. R. 5 

Garrett, Somerset Co. J 
B. & O. H R. 5 



TELEPHONE CONNECTION. 



P. O. BOX 326. 




•■•>■>■■„>.-.■,■■■<■ 



Bell Telephone 1334. 



Phoenix Telephone 34%; 



T. D. HUGHES, 

General Merchandise, 

GROCERIES, DRY GOODS, NOTIONS, BOOTS, SHOES, 

X Tojbacco attd Cigars. A) 



622 SIXTH AVENUE, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



George V, Rollins, 

urtcral Director 



3| HI 




Residence. 806 Twentieth Street. 



No, 1926 EIGHTH AVE. 

Bell Telephone. 



112 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. 



nection at that place with the cables of the Mexican Central and 
South American Telegraph Companies for all points in Mexico, 
Central and South America. Direct wires and cables to Havana, 
Cuba, connecting- with Cuba sub-Mj.rine and West India and 
Panama Telegraph Companies for all points in the West Indies. 
Exclusive connection with the Great Northwestern Telegraph 
Company of Canada, and establishing- beyond doubt that our 
telegraph service will compare more than favorably with cities 
of the same or better class, a matter of vital importance to every 
manufacturer and business man. 

The company has a system of transferring money b3' tele- 
graph which is confined to the larger offices, and is divided into 
five classes or, in other words, they classify and limit the offices 
according to the average amount of money transferred. Alto ma 
is in the second, or class B, exceeded only by such cities as Phila- 
delphia, New York and Pittsburg, and ranking with Harrisburg, 
Scranton, Wilkesbarre, and Wilmington, Del. 

Much credit is due Manager A. G. Strickland for the efficiency 
of our telegraph service, as during the time he has been in 
charge hi has worked hard to make it perfect. His one desire is 
to please the psople and offer a service free from criticism. 



Western Union Telegraph Co, 

There is no better evidence of th; business push and energy of 
our thriving' city than the steady increase of business of the 
Western Unioa Telegraph Company, who have at all times shown 
their appreciation of our people's patronage and confidence by 
promptly increasing their facilities to meet the demands, until 
tod iy the office is a model one in every particular, and its facil- 
ities for the prompt and direct handling- of business and the 
accommodations extended to the public, is second to none outside 
of the larger cities. 

The office was for many years located in the Logan House, 
where for a time the manager, with the assistance of one 
messenger, constituted the force; but as business increased the 
force was added to and better facilities furnished. Their cramped 
quarters in the Logan House became inadequate, and a better 
location was secured in the Brant House, which permitted them 
to offer increased facilities to the public. The business gradually 
outgrew this location, and about a year ago they secured possess- 
sion of the present locition, which after a complete overhauling 
was fitted in a up-to-date manner. The stringing of three new 
coppT wires permitted the local man- 
agement to offer the produce, fish and 
oyster dealers direct communication 
with Baltimore, Md., and at the same 
time direct communication was ob- 
tained with offices in the northwestern 
pa^t of the state. The office is finished 
in hard wood, with desk and chairs f. r 
use of the public, and a hammered 
glass partition completely separating 
the operating department from the 
public. 

It's the principal test office of the com- 
pany between Pittsburg and Harris- 
burg. A large 40-wire switchboard of 
latest desig-n set in an oak frame is u-ed 
for this purpose. The old crow-foot 
battery has been replaced with dynamo 
current furnished direct to the wires 
through forty resistance lamps located 
at top of switchboard. Quartette 
operating tables arranged for type- 
writer use is another of the modern 
features. 

The Western Union has an operator 
stationed regularly at Armour & Co.'s 
icing station, Juniata, from where 
consignees are advised in reference to 
the movements of their cars, and 
which is an office of considerable im- 
portance. Western Union Telegraph Co,— Offices, Twelfth Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. 

They operate a system of self-winding and synchronizing 
clocks, which are rented or sold at a reasonable cost to those de- 
siring the correct time, furnished direct from the United States 
Observatory at Washington daily. 

All the daily, and one Sunday, papers are furnished with 
press reports through this company, a special operator being em- 
ployed on the night report by the Press Association. The regu- 
lar force consists of the manager, three operators, four messen- 
gers and one lineman at the main office and one operator at the 
branch office. Eleven instruments are in service regularly, 
giving- direct communication with Pittsburg, Northwestern 
Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Baltimore, Md., Philadelphia, New 
York and all intermediate points, and putting the citizens in 
close touch with the greatest telegraph company in existence, 
controlling 800,000 miles of wire, over 21,000 offices, two duplex 
American Atlantic cables from New York to Penzance, England, 
direct, connecting- with four Anglo-American and one direct 
Uuited States cable. Direct communication with Germany and 
Prance. Direct wires from New York to Galveston, Texas; con- 




ANDERSON 
School of Business and Shorthand. 

OfEN ALL THE YKAE. DAY AND EVENING SESSIONS. 
NEW STUDENTS ADMITTED AT ANY TIME. 

JHQRTHdflD, BOOK-KEEFINQ, TYFE-WRIT- 
INQ, ENQLIJH BRANCHED. 



Students eng-a 
en,ter. 



n genuine Book-keepers' and Office Practice the day they 
ness Practice from start to finish. Everything- just 
as it is practiced in business. .'. 
FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS CALL AT THE SCHOOL. 



W. G. ANDERSON, 

Proprietor and Prit 
MRS. W. G. ANDERSON, 
MR. H. A. ANDERSON, 
MISS HATTIE KINCH, 



NEW MATEER BUILDING, 

1412-14 Eleventh Avenue, 

nuroojiH, pa. 



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1 i ' . ■ . 







2£ CITY GOVERNMENT, 










LTOONA, under the law of 1889, classifying 
cities with reference to their population, is a 
city of the third class, having; less than 100,000 
inhabitants. The municipal affairs are regulated and 
controlled by Councils consisting of two branches, Select 
and Common. Common Council consists of two mem- 
bers from each ward who are elected by the qualified 
voters of the ward and hold their office two years. Select 
Council consists of one person from each ward, elected 
in the same manner as Common Councilmen and for a 
term of four }'ears. As there 
are eight wards in the city, 
the Common Council num- 
bers sixteen members and 
Select eight. Members of 
Select Council must be at 
least 25 years old and of Com- 
mon Council 21, and have re- 
sided in the State four years, 
and in the district they rep- 
resent at least one year next 
before their election. The 
terms are so arranged that 
eight Common Councilmen 
are elected every year, and 
four Select men every alter- 
nate year, but Councils reor- 
ganize annually on the 1st 
Monday of April and elect a 
president and clerk. Appro- 
priations for current ex- 
penses of city are made in 
March of each year, and for 
but one year at a time. 

Councils in joint session 
elect three Water Commis- 
sioners, the city being di- 
vided into three districts for 
this purpose and one Com- 
missioner's term expiring 
and a new one being elected each year from the district, 
thus preserving the continuity of the board. The board 
of Water Commissioners have full control of the water 
system of the city and would also control the matter of 
lighting if the city owned its own gas works or electric 
light plant. A Water Superintendent is the ministeri 
officer of the board and is appointed by them to serve 
without limit as to time and subject to removal for 
sufficient cause. 

A Highway Commissioner is appointed by the Mayor, 




S. M, Hover, Mayor of Altoona, 



subject to ratification by Select Council. He has charge 
of the streets and avenues and alleys, and the men em- 
ployed to clean them, grade, repair crossings, and do 
other necessary work. 

A Chief Engineer of the Fire Department is appoint- 
ed by the Mayor, subject to ratification by Select Coun- 
cil, who has control of the paid fire department of the 
city, directs the work of the] firemen when they are 
called into service, and at all -other times gives his en- 
tire attention to it and the work of guarding against fires 
as well as subduing them 
when they occur. 

The executive officer of 
the city is a Mayor, elected 
by the qualified voters and 
holding his office for a term 
of three years. He has en- 
tire supervision of the police 
force, and with the approval 
of Council, appoints a chief 
of police, lieutenants, ser- 
geants and patrolmen. He 
has power to inflict summary 
punishment on disturbers of 
the peace and disorderly per- 
sons by inflicting fines not to 
exceed ten dollars, and im- 
prisonment in the city lock- 
up not to exceed seventy-two 
hours, or the county jail not 
to exceed thirty days. He 
has also the authority of an 
alderman or justice of the 
peace in all criminal cases, 
and may hold an offender to 
bail to answer in the Quarter 
Sessions Court of the county. 
Formerly the Mayor heard 
all cases of disorderly con- 
duct and passed sentence on 
the offenders, but during the incumbency of the present 
Mayor, a custom has grown up of delegating this duty 
to one of the city aldermen, usually the alderman of the 
Third Ward. 

The next important officer of the city is the Con- 
troller, who is elected by a popular vote of the city for a 
term of three years, and whose duty it is to have super- 
vision of the finances of the municipality and the dis- 
bursement of all city moneys. He does not receive or 
pay out money, but all vouchers therefore, before being 



114 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



presented to the City Treasurer for payment, must be 
examined and countersig-ned by the Controller, it being 
his duty to ascertain if bills are properly and legally 
contracted, and if the city has actually received the ser- 
vices or material for which pay is demanded. He also 
guards against the overdrawing- of the different appro- 
priations for the various departments, and will refuse to 
countersign any order unless there is sufficient funds in 
the Treasurer's hands to pay it of money specifically ap- 
propriated for the purpose. 




George W. Harpham, City Controller. 

The City Solicitor is the legal adviser of Councils 
and attends to the ordinary legal business of the city, 
the entry of liens for taxes, paving, sewers, etc., when 
necessary, and the collection afterwards if not paid vol- 
untarily. He also prosecutes and defends suits in which 
the city is a party as plaintiff or defendant. The Solic- 
itor is elected by Councils in joint session for a term of 
two years. 

The City Treasurer is the custodian of the funds of 
the city, and receives and pays out all moneys except 
the school fund, which is entirely in the hands of the 
school board. The Treasurer is elected by the quali- 
fied electors of the city at large for a term of three years. 

The city employs a civil engineer whose title is City 
Engineer and whose duties are to give grades for streets 
and alleys, pavements and curbing; to lay out sewers 
and superintend their construction so far as to see that 



the contractor does the work properly and according to 
specifications. 

City Clerk, who is also clerk of Common Council, is 
an important officer, as he takes charge of all ordinances 
passed by both branches, keeps a record of all business 
before these bodies and the committees thereof, except 
the minutes of Select Council which are. kept by their 
own clerk. 

City Electrician has charge of the fire alarm system, 
patrol boxes, etc., and is appointed by the Mayor. 

The health of the city is in charge of a Board of 
Health, whose members are nominated and appointed 
by the Mayor, subject to the approval of Council, and 
whose duties are described in another article under that 
head. 

The School Board, whose members are elected by the 
qualified electors of the entire city, and are not subordi- 
nate to Councils, is treated of under the head of 
''Schools." 

Following is a list of the city officers, with their sal- 
aries, amount of bonds, where bonds are required, and 
the location of their offices: 

Mayor, S. M. Hoyer; office, city building, corner 
of Twelfth Street and Thirteenth Avenue; bond, none; 
salary, $1,200; will be succeeded by Mayor-elect H. 
C. Barr, April 6, 1896. 

Controller, George W. Harpham; office, 1110 Twelfth 
Street; bond, $3,000; salary, $900. Just re-elected for a 
third term. 

Treasurer, H. E. Ferguson; office, corner Ninth 
Street and Eleventh Avenue; bond, $50,000; sal- 
ary, $1,500. Just re-elected for a third term. 




H, E. Ferguson, Treasurer of Altoona. 



X, re ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X 2C 



115 



Solicitor, George B. Bowers; office in Mateer build- 
ing; bond, $5,000; salary, $1,000. 

City Engineer, Harvey Linton; office, Twelfth Street, 
between Sixth and Seventh Avenues; bond, $2,500; sal- 
ary, $2,000. 

City Clerk, W. J. Hamor; office, 1200 Twelfth Street; 
bond, $1,000; salary, $1,000. Ordinance pending to 
increase it to $1,500. 

Water Superintendent, S. A. Gailey; office, city 
building; bond, none; salary, SI, 200. 

Street Commissioner, J. F. Smith; office, city build- 
ing; bond, $1,000; salary, $840. 

Electrician, J. D. Burleigh; office, city building; 
bond, none; salary, 




George B. Bowers, City Solicitor of Altoona, 

Chief Engineer of Fire Department, J. N. Tillard; 
affice, No. 1 engine house, Tenth Avenue, between Four- 
teenth and Fifteenth Streets; bond, none: salary, $900. 

Chief of police, A. A. Cherry; office, city building; 
jond, none; salary, $840. 

Lieutenants, $720; Sergeants, $660: Patrolmen and 
Warden and Patrol Driver, each $600, 

Health Officer, J. M. Watt; bond, $500; salary, $660. 

Secretary Board of Health, Dr. C. H. Closson; bond, 
£500; salary, $420. 

Clerk of Select Council, Jessie B. W. Ickes; bond, 
lone; salary, 



Aldermen, Constables and Notaries Public, 

Each ward in the city is entitled to elect one Alder- 
nan to serve for a teim of five years, and there are eight 
ildermen, as follows: First Ward, B. F. Rose, with 
)ffice in Masonic Temple. Second Ward, C. T. Alcott, 
)ffice, 818 Twelfth Street. Third Ward, John A. Doyle, 



office in Schenk block. Fourth Ward, Charles J. Mann, 
office, 713 Twelfth Street. Fifth Ward, John O'Toole, 
office, 1011 Bridge Street. Sixth Ward, William H. 
Stephens, office, 1624 Eighth Avenue. Seventh Ward, 
James B. Raymond, office, 1312 Fourth Street. Eighth 
Ward, W. B. Blake, office, 618 Eighth Avenue. 

The jurisdiction of these officers is the same as jus- 
tices of the peace, which they are to all intents and pur- 
poses. In civil matters suits may be brought before 
them where the demand does not exceed the sum of $300 
nor involve the title to real estate. Actions for damages 
for breach of promise and consequential damages are also 
excepted. In criminal matters they may only hear evi- 
dence and hold the offender to bail to answer in the 
Quarter Sessions of the county, except in a few minor 
offenses, as profane swearing, they may inflict a fine. 
They are authorized to perform the marriage ceremony. 
They receive no salary, but are entitled to certain fees 
for services. They are commissioned by the Governor, 
and give bond in the sum of $1,000. 

Each ward also elects a Constable for a term of three 
years, and the Constable is the ministerial officer of the 
Alderman's court; besides having other duties to per- 
form, report violations of the law and attend the polls 
on election days. No salary, but fees for services 

Notaries Public are, in a manner, self-chosen, and 
there seems to be no limit as to the number that may 
hold office, except the discretion of the Governor. They 
are appointed and commissioned by the Governor, with 
the approval of the Senate, which is, as a matter of 
course, on the petition of six or more citizens of the dis- 
trict in which they reside. The term of office is four 
years, and they give bond in the sum of $3,000. They 
receive no salary, but are entitled to certain fees for 
services. They are authorized to administer oaths or 
affirmations, and take acknowledgement of deeds and 
mortgages, protest commercial paper, etc. There are 
twenty or more Notaries in the city. 




W. M. C. Craine, President of Select Council. 



H. K. HOY, M. D. 

EYE, EAR, NOSE and THROAT Treated Medically and Surgically. 

Eyes Tested. Spectacles and Eye Glasses Furnished. 

RUPTURE PERMANENTLY CURED by a New Method, 

Almost painless. 

TRUSSES ACURATELY F1TTED- 

Prices the Lowest. 

OPIUM, WHISKY and TOBACCO HABITS CURED. 

.Cancers Cured and Removed without the knife. Hemorrhoids and other 

Rectal Diseases treated by methods that cure with little or no pain. 

OFFICE HOURS— 7 to 8:30 a. m., 1 to 2:30 p. m., 7 to 8:30 p. m. 

EC. K. HOY, M. D. 

1203 Fourteenth Street, - ALTOOKTA, PA. 

Dr. A. S. Stayer, 

OFFICE— 706 Twelfth Street, - ALTOONA. 



| 7 to 9 a. m. 
Office Hours: V 12.30 to 3 p. it 
) 6.30 to S.30 p. 



RESIDENCE— 1501 Seventh Avenue. 



Wm. D. Hall, M. D. 



1423 Eleventh Avenue, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



J U. Blose, M. D. 



( 8 to 9 a. m. 

Office Hours-! 1 to 2 p. m. 

( 7 to 8 p. m. 



OFFICE, 
Eleventh St. and Twelfth Avi 



RESIDENCE— 101 Howard Avenue. 



Dr. G. M. Couch. 



OFFICE— SIS Fourth Street, 



(7 to 9 a. 

Office Hours-? 1 to 3 p. 

( 7 to 9 p. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



Nig-ht calls at residenc 
315 Sixth Ave. 



E. H. Morrow, M. D. 



943 Seventeenth Street, 



1 Till 9 a. m. 
Office Hours : •{ 1 to 3 p. 



' "I 6 to 8 p! i 



ALTOONA, PA. 

Bell Telephone 174. 
Phoenix Telephone 148. 



Dr. Hartzell, 

DISEASES of the EAR, EYE, NOSE and THROAT. 

1106 Eleventh Street. (Up-stairs.) 



[ 8 to 10 a. re 

Office Hours: •< 1 to 3 p. m. 

| 7 to 8.30 p. 



S. L. McCarthy, M. D. 



Eighth Avenue and Fourteenth Street, 



ALTOONA. 



Dr. Amos O. Taylor, 



1415 Twelfth Avenue, 



ALTUOXA, PA. 



Office Hours: 
r to 9 a. m. 1 to 3 p. 

6 to *> p. in. 



William S. Ross, M. D. 



1213J4 Twelfth Avenue, 



I 9 to 10 a 

Office Hours:-? 3 to 5 p. 

j 7 to 8 p. 



ALTOONA, PA.. 

Residence, 
No. 1430 Eighth Avenue. 



B. F. Books, M. D. 



1^» H YSIOl A "Nt tand SURGEON, 



13J6 Twelfth Street, ALroor- 



DR. J. J. O ATM AN, 



OLMES BUILDING, 
Twelfth Avenue and Eleventh Street, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



W. K. Maglaughlin, M. D. 



No. 1202 Tv 



ALTOONA, PA. 



: < 1 to o p. 
I 7 to 9 p. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



Dr. (J. L. Bru BAKER, 



■24 Fourth Avenue, (Juniata,) 

Telephone 603. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



J. W. ROWE, M. D. 



1801 Seventh Avenue, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



116 



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FIRE DEPARTMENT, A) 







jITH the advent of a water system for Altoona 
in 1859, volunteer fire companies were organ- 
ized, and a hand engine was purchased shortly 
"before the water was turned on so as to be in readiness. 
The first company was the "Citizens," organized April 
21, 1859, and name changed to Good Will, November 14, 
1859. The Pennsylvania Railroad management encour- 
aged these companies in every way, and the volunteer 
firemen of the city for many years numbered 400 or 
more men, being divided among the following com- 
panies. The Good Will, the 
•oldest; the Vigilant, the 
Hope, and the Altoona 
Steam Fire Engine Compa- 
nies; the Empire Hook and 
Ladder Company, and theEx- 
•celsior, Logan, and Friend- 
ship Hose Companies, and 
later the Fire Patrol. These 
companies were well organ- 
ized, well equipped and did 
noble service for years, the 
members turning out 
promptly at all alarms, 
whether by day or night, 
week days, Sundays or holi- 
days. The Good Will occu- 
pied a brick building on the 
corner of Sixth Avenue and 
Thirteenth Street; the Em- 
pire one on Tenth Avenue, 
hetween Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth Streets, which they 
owned; the Logans a frame 
"building on Ninth Street, 
between Fifth and Sixth 
Avenues; the Excelsior a 
similar one on Tenth Street, 
between Chestnut and Lexington Avenues; the Friend- 
ship a brick building on Twenty-second Street, between 
Eighth and Ninth Avenues, and the Hope a frame on 
Sixth Avenue, between Third and Fourth Streets. The 
Vigilants, who were the pets and pride of the city, occu- 
pied the City Hall first floor, and the Altoonas, who 
were all shop men, and received pay from the company 
for time spent at fires, had their engine house at the 
Pennsylvania Railroad car shops, and a hose house at 
the machine shops at Twelfth Street and Ninth Avenue. 
The companies, with the exception of the Altoonas, re- 
ceived some assistance regularly from the city toward 




J, N, Tillard, Chief Fire Department 



defraying current expenses, and the city also paid for 
the apparatus and kept up the supply of hose, but 
the teams belonged to the companies. The balance of 
money necessary was contributed by the members in 
monthly dues or life memberships, or was raised by balls 
or festivals occasionally held by the different companies, 
and their teams did outside hauling. The department 
was nominally controlled by city Councils, who lent the 
sanction of their authority to a Chief Engineer and as- 
sistants after they had been elected by the firemen from 
among their number. The 
arrangement was, apparent- 
ly, very satisfactory, and the 
citizens felt that they were 
well protected, until, in 
1894, a dissatisfaction aris- 
ing in one of the hose compa- 
nies, they fell out with Coun- 
cils. Councils refused them 
their annual appropriation, 
and, at a fire on Ninth Street 
and Eighth Avenue, the Lo- 
gans refused to assist. 
Shortly afterward some 
wealthy propert}' owners be- 
gan to agitate the establish- 
ment of a paid department. 
The railroad Company fa- 
vored the project, as did 
some residents who thought 
the volunteers were calling 
for too many contributions. 
The movement swept the 
city, though not without 
strong opposition, and Coun- 
cils, early in 1895, passed the 
necessary ordinance provid- 
ing for a paid department, 
and for purchasing from the volunteer companies their 
buildings, teams and other property. All was accom- 
plished in a very short time, and on the first day of 
May, 1895, the paid department was installed, and the 
volunteers, with the thanks of Councils and citizens, 
went out of service. As a fitting close to their long and 
faithful service they gave a monster parade Saturday, 
April 27, 1895. 

The paid Fire Department, as organized for the first 
year, consists of a Chief Engineer and thirty-five men, 
three steam fire engines in service and one stored, five 
hose carriages in service and two extra ones stored, one 



118 



2C X, ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. 3C 3£ 



hook and ladder truck, 7000 feet of hose, and fourteen 
horses for hauling- the engines, truck and hose cars. 
The engines are housed as follows: 

One at No. 1 engine house, Tenth Avenue between 
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, the old Empire Hook 
and Ladder Company's building - . 

One at No. 2 engine house, Twenty-second Street 
between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, the old Friendship 
company's building. 

One at No. 3 engine house, Sixth Avenue between 
Third and Fourth Streets, the old Hope company's 
building. 

No. 4 engine house, formerly the Excelsior hose 
company's building, Tenth Street between Chestnut 
and Lexington Avenues, has only a hose company now. 

At No. 1 engine house is also the Hook and Ladder 
truck. 




bells at the engine houses as follows, the numerals being: 
denoted by an equal number of taps in quick succession, 
with a pause between each figure represented (adopted 
November, 1895): 

12 — Willow Avenue and First Street. 
13 — Howard Avenue and Second Street. 
14 — Lexington Avenue and Fourth Street. 
15 — Walnut Avenue and Fourth Slreet. 
16 — Green Avenue and Seventh St'eet. 
17 — Howard Avenue and Eighth Street. 
18 — Chestnut Avenue and Ninth Street. 
19 — Howard Avenue and Tenth Street. 
21 — Fifteenth Avenue and Eleventh Street. 
22 — Twelfth Avenue and Eleventh Street. 
23— Eleventh Avenue and Twelfth Street. 
24 — Thirteenth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 
25— Fifteenth Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 
26 — Thirteenth Avenue and Fourteenth Street. 
27 — Eleventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street. 
31 — Eleventh Avenue and Sixteenth Street. 
32— Thirteenth Avenue and Sixteenth Street. 
33 — Fourteenth Avenue and Eighteenth Street. 
34— Tenth Avenue and Eighteenth Street. 

35— Twelfth Avenue and Twentieth Street. 

36 — Maple Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street. 

37 — Broad Avenue and Twenty-third Street. 

41 — Margaret and Union Avenues. 

42 — Margaret Avenue and Seventeenth Street. 

43 — Seventh Avenue and Twenty-second Street. 

44— Eighth Avenue and Twentieth Street. 

■45— Fifth Avenue and Nineteenth Street. 

46 — Seventh Avenue and Seventeenth Street. 

47 — Sixth Avenue and Sixteenth Street. 

51 — Eighth Avenue and Fifteenth Street. 

52— Fourth Avenue and Fifteenth Srreet. 

53 — Seventh Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 

54 — Fourth Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 

55— Eighth Avenue and Twelfih Street. 

56— Fifth Avenue and Twelfth Street. 

57 — Seventh Avenue and Eleventh Street. 

61 — Fourth Avenue and Eleventh Street. 

62— Eighth Avenue and Ninth Street. 

63 — Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street. 

64 — Third Avenue and Seventh Street. 

65 — Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street. 

66— Eighth Avenue and Sixth Street. 

67 — Seventh Avenue and Fourth Street. 

71 — Fourth Avenue and Third Street. 

72 — Fourth Avenue and Lloyd Street. 
444— P. R. R Car Shops 
555— P. R. R. Machine Shops. 



Note — Nn 
ad numbers 



abei 



sunder 42 are northwest of Ninth At 
42 southeast of Ninth Avenue. 



Archie Maxwell, One of the First Members 
and Organizers of the First Fire Co, 



Andrew Kipple, Chief Director of the Altoona 
(P. R, R.) Firemen, 



The police patrol responds to all alarms of fire now, 
and takes the place of the old Fire Patrol Company of 
the Volunteers. 

The headquarters of the Chief Engineer, J. N. Til- 
lard, is No. 1 engine House, Tenth Avenue between 
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. In addition to this 
force of firemen employed by the city, the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company still maintains as heretofore their effi- 
cient company and equipment of one steam fire engine 
and hose car at the car shops, and one hose car at the 
machine shops, and these respond to all g-eneral alarms 
if a fire of any mag-nitude breaks out. 

The city has a complete Gamewell Fire Alarm 
system, put in recently at an expense of several thous- 
and dollars, to replace the Union which had been in use 
for a number of years but was not working- satisfactorily. 

Signals denoting the location of the fire — the box 
from which the alarm is sent in — are struck with the 



The locomotive engines in the railroad 
yard sound a shrill whistle alarm when fires 
are seen by the engineer. 

The number of fire hydrants in the city is 250. 



Fire Limits, 

An ordinance now pending in Councils establishes a 
fire limit, within which no frame buildings may here- 
after be erected — brick, stone, or some other incombusti- 
ble material must be used. The penalty for infraction of 
this ordinance is a fine not exceeding- $100, which the 
Mayor may impose, and on failure to pay, sentence the 
offender to the county jail for thirty days. 

The limits as fixed by this ordinance are, Seventh 
Street on the North-east and Seventeenth Street on the 
South-west; and Seventh Alley on the South-east and 
Twelfth Alley on the North-west, and embraces all the 
territory enclosed by these lines. Some amendments 
are likely to be made curtailing the North-east and 
South-west boundary lines, but the ordinance will pass 
substantially as above. 



JVIOHEY TO LiOAH 

ON FIRST MORTGAGK. 

Id Sums of ♦ 

$1,000.00 



I J. A. Elder, President and Manag-er. 

W. B. Bancroft, Secretary and Treasurer 
ENTER P RISE PLANING M l L L . 

Enterprise Planing Mill Co. 



General Contractors and Builders 

No«. 3200 an<l 2302 Fifth Avenue, 

ALTOIPNA, PA. 



APPLY TO 



WILLIAM H, WEBER, 

Agent of Pennsylvania Trust Co. 

Room 1, McCULLOUGH BUILDING, 

No. 1121 Eleventh Svcnue, 
ALTOONA, PA. 

* 1* *I " **- ' \ ' *»* *■** *J* *** "I" ****** *** *** *** *** **" "I - * *♦* *■!* *** *"♦* *** **• *** ''I**;**!"*"'*!**.* 




C. W. Moore, 
GROCER. 

Cor. Eleventh Avenue and Bridge Street, 



Dealer in TEAS, COFFEES, SPICES, 
SALT FISH, 



And all kinds of VEGETABLES, EEEEIES 
FRUITS, and Country Produce. 



Flour, Baled Hay and Straw, 



DRESSED and LIVE POULTRY 



TJe/ephone 2/2. 



Established in I860. 



Jxltoona Steam u3akerj/ y 

Jt. J 7 . Jreessj ^Proprietor. 

7/fanufacturer of S/3readj Cakea and Crackers, 



7// and 7/3 Vhirteenth Street, jiltoona, !Pa. 



OLDEST HARDWARE HOUSE IN ALTOONA. 

jk j>r. Wot/-. s. y. Woif. 

Jiltoona JrCardware 

and OUpply CO. 

Wholesale and Retail Dealers in 

HARDWARE 

STOVES, RANGES, HOUSE FUR- 
NISHING GOODS. 
Cutlery, . Paints, . Glass, . Builders' . and . Mill 
Supplies, Etc. 

Best Selection. Largest Variety, Lowest Prices and 
Quick Delivery. 

'"^TrrrffT"^^*' 

No. 1318 Eleventh Avenue. 

ALTOONA, PA . 



St CatPfence 

Cor. ELEVENTH AVE and FOURTEENTH ST. 

ALTOONA, PA. 



THOS. HEATON, 



Proprietor 



119 



»**•$♦*£••$. •*+•-** .%.*.. *..*..%.*..*.^J**J.»J.».J-.^J.^.*J..*.^.*.^,^..* + ^**r.^,^. 



Pheasant & Wagner 



DEALERS IP 



DRY * Q00D5, 

Notions, Boots and Shoes. 

GROCERIES, FLOUR, FEED, Etc. 



FOURTH AVE., - JUNIATA. 

Prompt Free Delivery. 






imrami")!'::' 



ALTOONA POSTOFFICE 



Jf.'lJL"JL r ;J'...*.jL,VJL.\.H. 



iLMLyL'Jt,£-JL^LiJLliL£aLLit±lL^ 




HE POSTOFFICE is located en Twelfth Street 
between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, occupy- 
ing- the ground floor and basement of the Odd 
Fellows' building, and this has been its location for 
about twenty years, although it is but recently that it 
has occupied so much of the building. An insurance 
office was kept in the part of the first floor now used as the 
office of the postmaster, until about 1890, and the base- 
ment was occupied by a restaurant until 1895. The 
office is central and convenient for all residents on both 
sides of the railroad, and is likely to be kept here until 
a government building is erected, when of course it will 
be removed to that. 

The postoffice for this 
part of Logan township was 
first established at Collins- 
ville in 1817, and remained 
there until the founding of 
Altoona in 1850, when it was 
brought here and the name 
changed to Altoona. 

The free mail delivery 
which extends to all the ad- 
jacent suburbs excepting 
Juniata, was begun in 1883 
and there are now seventeen 
letter carriers, including 
two substitutes. 

Juniata has a postoffice 
of its own, but it is called 
Kipple because there is an- 
other Juniata in the state, 
older than this one, and the 
rules do not admit of two of 
the same name in a state. 

The postmaster is Ham- 
bleton P. Wilson, whose 
appointment was made in 
January, 1896. Reamer Hoke is assistant, having held 
the same position under the former postmaster, A. P. 
McDonald, deceased. 

Postoffice hours are from 7 o'clock a. m. to 8:15 p. m., 
excepting Sundays and legal holidays. The Money 
Order Department is open from S a. m. to 7:30 p. m. On 
Sundays the office is open from 9:30 to 10:30 a. m , and 
on legal holida}-s usually from 7 to 10 a. m., and 7 to 8 p.m. 

Altoona's postmaster receives an annual salary of 
$2,800, and furnishes bonds to the amount of $33,000. 

From the annexed latest report of the business trans- 
acted at the Altoona postoffice for the year ending 
December 31, 1895, we take the following figures: 



RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES. 

Receipts from sale of stamps, etc., not including- 

box rents $34,539 32 

Expenses, postmaster's salary, clerk hire, rent and 

letter carriers 19,200 00 



Balance $15,339 32 

The balance, $15,339.32, from which some trivial 

miscellaneous expenses must be taken, shows that the 

Altoona postoffice pays its way and has a largfe surplus 

of profit for the government. 

The Money Order account for the last quarter of the 

year 1895 (three months) was as follows: 




DR. 
3,234 29 



Bal. on hand Oct. 1...$ 

4,236 Domestic orders 

issued 31,218 04 

Fees on same 257 04 

268 Intern'tion'l orders 

issued 3,170 00 

Fees on same 42 80 

Deposits received 

from other offices 79,026 00 

4,504 

Total, $116,948 17 



23 



Hambleton P. Wilson, Postmaster of Altoona. 



2,268 Domestic orders 

paid $ 

29 Domestic orders 

repaid 

27 International or- 
ders paid 

Deposited with p 
m at New York, 

N. Y 88 

Balance on hand 
and in transit, 

Dec. 31, 1895... 4 

2,324 

Total $116 

Total amount of cash 

handled $126. 



CR. 

185 08 
166 66 
366 22 



,948 17 
316 86 



There are eighty-five street letter boxes distributed 
throughout the city, besides two at the railroad station 
in front of the Logan House. 

The following stamp agencies have been established 
and the merchants named are paid for selling stamps 
for the accomodation of the public, $24 per year each: 

William H. Irwin, druggist, cor. Eleventh Avenue 
and Sixteenth Street. 

C. B. Baumgardner, druggist, 1617 Eighth Avenue. 

H. L- Murray, druggist, 900 Eighth Avenue. 

W. M. C. Craine, druggist, 400 Chestnut Avenue. 

Rhodes & Houck, general merchandise, Fairview. 

H. P. Davis & Co., general merchandise, 2922 Broad 
Avenue. 



X ALTOONA CITY HOSPITAL, X 




(N 1883 the need of a public hospital to which 
victims of accidents and others could be taken 
for treatment became so apparent that a move- 
ment was set 'on foot to raise funds for the purpose 
of establishing- one. The citizens of every station 
in life subscribed liberally to the object, and a fund 
of $15,000 was soon contributed. This was supple- 
mented by an appropriation from the State of $15,000, 
and the Pennsylvania Railroad donated the grounds, a 
plot of 4 27-100 acres, lying- along- Howard Avenue, be- 
tween Sixth and Seventh Streets, a most beautiful loca- 
tion for an institution of this kind, being- sufficiently 
elevated to afford a fine view of that part of the city 
lying- below Eleventh Street and east of Chestnut Avenue. 



1, 18S6. The building-s and ground when first completed 
were valued at $40,000; additions have been made to them 
since, and they are now worth about $60,000. They 
are all of brick, and the hospital has a capacity for fifty- 
three patients. In addition to patients treated in the 
hospital, a larg-e number of outside cases receive atten- 
tion, being- those who are able to come to the hospital 
for medicine and examination. 

The total number of patients treated from the time 
of its opening to the present, reaches the grand total of 
11,237, of whom 2,816 were "in" patients, and 8,421 out- 
side ones. 

The hospital is controlled by a corporation chartered 
for the purpose, and the present officers are: John P. 




Altoona City Hospital, (Ro'uinson and Crockett, Architects,; 



The $15,000 first contributed came from the follow- 
ing sources: 

Pennsj lvania Railroad Company $ 7,000 00 

Altoona Gas Company 1,000 00 

Pennsylvania Railroad employes at machine shops 2,470 14 

Pennsylvania Railroad employes at car shops 1,853 IS 

Pennsylvania Railroad Company officers. 399 00 

I Sundry Societies 621 10 

Citizens of First Ward 460 00 

Citizens of Second Ward 598 10 

Citizens of Third Ward 416 00 

Citizens of Fourth Ward 266 50 

Citizens of Fifth Ward 145 10 

I Citizens of Sixth Ward 30 00 

< Citizens of Seventh Ward 38 25 

{ Citizens of Eighth Ward 

Total $15,297 34 

During the year 1885 a good hospital building was 
; erected and opened for the reception of patients January 



Levan, President; L. B. Reifsneider, Secretary; J. G. 
Davis, Treasurer; A. J. Riley, Esq., Solicitor; Directors, 
John P. Levan, J. M. Wallis, George W. Strattan, H. J. 
Cornman, H. C. Dern, David K. Ramey, F. L. Shep- 
pard, A. J. Anderson, William Stoke, L. B. Reifsneider, 
W. W. Murray, R. E. Marshall and Albert F. Heess. 
The medical staff consists of Dr. John Fay, chief, and 
Drs. F. M. Christy, W. S. Ross, J. U. Blose, J. F. Arney, 
and these gentlemen, although among the best of their 
profession in the city, serve without compensation. Dr. 
J. W. Grube is Superintendent, and Mrs. Grube, Matron. 
The hospital is supported by contributions from 
citizens and a State appropriation, usually $4,500 to 
$5,000 per year. We make the following interesting 



122 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



excerpt from the report of the President, John P. 
Levari, January 1, 1896. 

As a matter of public information and concern, I have 
had prepared and incorporate in this report a summary 
of the operations of the hospital since its incorporation 
in the year 1886. These figures of themselves I am sure 
furnish a more convincing argument in favor of the con- 
tinued and more liberal support of the hospital than any 
I could advance. The following is the summary: 





In-Patients. 

1 


( hit- 
Patients. 


Year. 


»-3 



E 


r. 
& 

EL 


w o 

P c 
Jq i S 
o ! P- 

83 67 
163 103 
138 121 
171 162 
219 206 
194 195 
247 266 
256 305 
222 285 
213 261 


g 
"O 

o 
< 

p. 

27 
69 
21 
26 

32 
28 
17 
38 
41 
48 


a 

3 

5 
< 
& 

5 

10 

1 

\ 

3 

9 
13 
6 
7 
16 

76 


p. 

j_! 
ii 

16 
21 
19 

25 
27 
41 
37 
31 
31 
1 

259' 


►3 




g 
re 
g. 
a' 


a 




113 1 30 
206 43 
182 44 
226' 55 
290 71 
276 ! 82 
357 110 
406 150 
380 158 
380 167 


162 16 
396 20 
269 20 
502 38 
626 61 
621 87 
1212 225 
1316 338 
1445 521 
1872 622 


146 




376 




249 


1889 


464 


1890 


565 


1891 


534 


1892 


987 


1893 


978 


1894 


924 


1895 


1250 






Total 


2816,810 


1906 1971 


347 


8421 1948 


6473 



Work of 1895, 



PATIENTS ADMITTED. 



January 24 

February 33 

March 37 

April 33 

May 23 

June 26 



July 22 

August 33 

September 25 

October 35 

November 42 

December 31 



Total patients admitted 364 

Total patients in the hospital under treatment Decem- 
ber 31,-1894 " 16 

Total patients in the hospital during the year 380 

Of the patients treated during the year, 167 were 

treated in the medical wards, and 213 in the surgical 

wards. 

Of the patients treated, 261 were cured, 48 improved 

under treatment, 16 unimproved and 31 died. 

On the 31st day of December, 1895, twenty-four (24) 

patients remained in the hospital under treatment. 

Characteristics of Patients. 

SEX AND COLOR. 

White mates 295 Colored males 11 

White females 73 Colored females 1 

Total 380 



NATIVITY. 



Alabama 1 

Selaware 1 

District of Columbia 3 

Georgia 1 

Maryland 4 

Maine 1 

Massachusetts 1 

Minnesota f 1 

Michigan 1 

Missouri 2 

New Jersey 5 

New York 9 

North Carolina 1 

Ohio 1 

PennS3'lvania 215 

Tennessee 1 

Virginia 2 

Wisconsin 1 



Austria 12 

Arabia 1 

Canada 1 

England 12 

France 2 

Germany 30 

Hungary 4 

Ireland 21 

Italy 13 

Palestine 1 

Poland 3 

Scotland 5 

Sweden 8 

Total foreign 113 



Total U. S 251 The 16 patients in the hos- 

Total foreign 113 pital at the beginning of the 

year are not included in this 

Whole number 364 table. 



Baptist 8 

Bethel 1 

Catholic 121 

Church of God 6 

Dunkard 5 

Disciples of Christ 1 



Lutheran 50 

Methodist 103 

Mennonites 1 

Presbyterian 19 

Reformed 8 

Salvationists 1 



Episcopalian 18 United Brethren 17 

Evangelical 3 Not known 1 

Jews 1 

Total 364 

In addition to the patients treated in the hospital 
during the year, 1,872 outside patients were also treated. 
Of these 622 were medical, and 1,250 were surgical 
patients. 

Hospital Rules, 



3 and 4. The medical staff shall consist of not less 
than five physicians and surgeons, three of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. 

7. Admission — The physician or physicians on duty 
shall examine such patients as apply for admission to 
the hospital, and receive them if they be proper sub- 
jects; admission to be by printed certificate of name, 
age, place of nativity, occupation, whether married or 
sinsrle, and name of disease; all of which shall be filled 
up by the officiating physician, or by the endorsement 
of some reputable citizen. 

8. No person having an infectious or contagious 
disease shall be admitted to the hospital. 

12. Patients will be admitted any day between the 
hours of 9 a. m. and 5 p. m. Emergency cases will be 
received at all hours. Applicants for admission should 
present themselves at the office of the hospital between 
the hours above named. In cases where the patient is 
too ill in person, application may be made by a friend, 
and the patient will be examined at his home by a 
physician attached to the hospital. 

13. When the patient lives out of the city, the applica- 
tion must be accompanied by a certificate from some 
reputable physician, stating the nature and probable 
duration of the disease, which certificate, with the ap- 
plication, will be referred to the Visiting Committee. 

14. Injured persons, who choose to live at home, and 
who are able to visit the hospital for treatment from day 
to day, shall have their injuries dressed and be supplied 
with medicines. 

24. The charge for board, medical and other attend- 
ance in the ward shall be $7 per week, payable in ad- 
vance; in private rooms, $15. 

26. Cases of alcoholism, when received, shall be 
charged for at the rate of $5 per day. 

29. Visitors to patients will be admitted on Thurs- 
days and Fridays from 2 to 4 p. m. The immediate rela- 
tives of patients will be admitted every day (Sundays 
excepted) from 2 to 4 o'clock p. m. Patients in private 
rooms may be visited at any time, with the permission 
of the Superintendent. 

31. There is no chaplain attached to the hospital, 
but patients may receive visits from clergymen of any 
faith upon making their wishes known to the Superin- 
tendent. 

35. There may be treated as "out-patients" such 
poor persons as apply for relief at the hospital during 
the regular hours of attendance of the physicians, whose 
cases do not require residence in the wards. If, after 
careful inquiry by the prescribing physician, he is satis- 
fied that the patient is too poor to buy or provide the 
medicine required, he may supply the same from the 
medical stores of the hospital. 









^^^.VV- : T ; T ; V : V"-':-" ; "-:-" ; V : "-:- ~'"-:-~ : "- 



v BOARD OF HEALTH, ^ 

I- ; -:- ; -;- , -:- , -;- , -;- , -:■ , -;- ; -:- , -:- , -:- , -:- , -:- h- ■ -:--:- ■> , -:- , -;• ■; -:- , -:- , -:- , -:- , -;- , -:- ■, -:- ; -:- , -:- , -;- , -:- ■■ -i- , -:- = -;- : -:- < 










8LTO0NA has a well organized Board of 
Health and an efficient Health Officer. The 
Board was established in 1885 under the law of 
1874. Regular meeting's are held on Thursday after- 
noon of each week, from April 1 to November 1; balance 
of year every two weeks. All contagious diseases are 
reported by the physicians of the city and a placard is 
placed on the front door of the house to warn the public 
against entering. And should smallpox or any malig- 
nantly contagious disease break out the afflicted per- 
sons and premises would be promptly quarantined. 

Vital statistics are carefully kept by the secretary, 
who makes an annual report of the number of marriages, 
births and deaths in the city. 

The Board now consists of the following members: 
Jacob Adams, President; Dr. C. B. Dudley, Dr. E. S. 
Miller, George F. Jackson, Dr. J. G. Hughes; Dr. C. H. 
Closson, Secretary, and John M. Watt, Health Officer. 



The latest annual report of the Board, contained the 
following facts for the year ending December 31, 1895 : 

Number of marriages during- the year 248 

Number of births during the year 1,222 

Number of deaths during the year 628 

The mortality of the city is 14.95 per thousand popu- 
lation. Leaving off the accidents and still births and 
taking the deaths from disease alone, it gives a rate of 
12.76 per thousand population. 

The principal causes of death were: 

Acciden t 4Z 

Cholera Infantum 31 

Typhoid Fever 26 

Measles 16 

Old Age and General Debility : 32 

Pneumonia 39 

Consumption 52 

Other Diseases 330 

Still Births 60 



PReSBT£RIA«--CliURCrl- 



ALTOCWA- • PA 




Broad Avenue Presbyterian Church, Corner Broad Avenue and Twentyfourfh Street, (Robinson and Crockett, Architects,) 



124 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



GESSER, THE TAILOR. 



Sketch of a Man Who Builds Houses as Well as Clothes. 



Anybody about Altoona who does not know George 
W. Gesser is probably acquainted with " Gesser, the 
Tailor," that being his familiar sobriquet. Mr. Gesser 
has been in the tailoring business in Altoona for ten 
years, and his penchant for making friends and at the 
same time making business, has brought him both popu- 







Gesser, the Tailor, 
larity and success. Starting with nothing, he has, by 
strict attention to business, gotten his affairs in such 
shape that he has been able to branch out in the real 
estate business on a rather extensive scale. 

Before coming to Altoona, Mr. Gesser worked at 
tailoring in Chicago. Paris, Ky., Omaha, Neb. and 
"Washington, D. C, at which last place he worked seven 
years. Coming to Altoona with the practical and artis- 
tic ideas gained during the years spent in these different 
sections of the country, Mr. Gesser was soon recognized 
as a leader of styles in the merchant tailoring business 
of Altoona. This reputation he has hot let diminish, 
but has caused it to increase as the years rolled by. 

Mr. Gesser began business in a modest way in the 
Opera House block. Later he removed to a room on 
Eleventh Avenue between Fifteenth and Sixteenth 
Streets, where he remained until 1889, when he pur- 
chased the building at 1603 Eleventh Avenue, where he 
now is. This building Mr. Gesser remodeled to such an 
extent that it contains today one of the prettiest store 
rooms in Altoona. 

A few years ago, Mr. Gesser branched out into real 
estate. He started in a small way, working along 
quietly, and today he is operating in that line more 
extensively than most people suppose. Just at present 
he has in course of erection, on ground owned by him, 
six beautiful residences on Broad and West Chest- 
nut Avenues. If you want a good home, call on him. 
Either for sale or rent. 




A. M, KRICK, CONFECTIONER, 

Prominent among 
the enterprising busi- 
ness men of Altoona is 
A. M. Krick, Confec- 
tioner and Ice Cream 
Manufacturer, with 
store, candy and ice 
cream parlors on 
Twelfth Street, be- 
tween Eleventh and 
Twelfth Avenues. 
Mr. Krick came here 
from Philadelphia six 
years ago, and has 
built up a large and 
profitable business. 
He has had twenty 
years' experience and 
is a thoroughly prac- 
tical confectioner, be- 
ing the only man in 

this part of the State who manufactures the finest qual- 
ity of goods. While he makes man}' kinds, the finest 
are his specialties, and he caters more particularly to 
the class of customers demanding fine goods. 

His make of ice cream is noted for its richness and 
purity. He also has an elegant new soda fountain, and 
lovers of this delicious beverage will find the best always 
at Krick's. 



W, H. Kelley, Jeweler and Pawnbroker, 

No better proof that Altoona has become a city can 
be adduced than that it supports a prosperous pawn- 
broker's establishment. The familiar three balls — the 
ancient sign of this 
business — are to be 
seen above the door of 
W. H. Kelley's store 
in the Wilson build- 
ing, on the corner of 
Eleventh Avenue and 
Eleventh Street. Mr. 
Kelley has been in Al- 
toona since 1S91, and 
has, in the meantime, 
built up a large and 
profitable business, 
both in the brokerage 
department, loaning 
money on personal 
property, watches, 
jewelry, etc., and in 
the regular jewelry 
line. He carries a 
large stock of watches, 
clocks, jewelry, silver- 
ware, etc., which he sells at wholesale and retail. 










BOARD OF 






°rr ,-r ,-'r 

ifj/ 1 "..;-" 







NUMBER of leading- citizens of Altoona, real- 
izing- the advantage of concerted action in de- 
veloping- the business interests of the city, 
and thebenelits that might accrue from meeting together 
and discussing matters of general interest to the com- 
munity, disseminating information regarding the advan- 
tages of the place as a location for manufacturers and 
various other businesses, and inducing new industries to 
locate here, held a public meeting in the Woodcock 
building, November 8, 1895, and organized a Board of 
Trade. The organization was completed by the election 
of the following officers: 

W. L. Shei.LENBerGER. President. 

S. I. Fries, First Vice President. 

W. H. Here, Second Vice President. 
H. E. Ferguson, Secretary. 

S. J. Westley, Treasurer. 



Board of Directors, 



S. M. Hover, Chairman. 
IS. H. Fuck. 
Carl Oemes. 
W. M. C. Craine. 
James Flynn. 



W. S. Lee. 
M. A. Green- 
James M. Fay. 
George Harpham. 
C. W. Moore. 





William W. Murray, Dry Goods Merchant, 



A, J. Anderson, Secretary Edison Illuminating Company. 

The Board held regular meetings on the first Friday 
of every month— at first in the Nicholson building, and 
later in a room on second floor of No. 1310 Eleventh 
Avenue, which has been fitted up especially for the pur- 
pose, and is now the permanent meeting place. 

Among the earlier acts of the Board was the resolution 
to have a book published for distribution at home and 
abroad which should properly exhibit the various in- 
dustries of the city and its advantages as a place for the 
location of manufacturing establishments and the in- 
vestment of capital, together with other matters and 
statistics showing the city's growth, present status 
and future prospects. Charles B. Clark, Esq., was en- 
gaged to secure statistics and data for it, and later was 
authorized to properly arrange and write up the matter 
and print the book. 

The work, from its nature, was a laborious one, and, 
of necessity, required a great amount of time and pa- 
tience. It was completed, however, during the summer 
and fall of 1895, printed early in 1896, corrected to 
date, and is now presented to the public in this form. 

It may not be out of place to note here that this is 
the second Board of Trade organized in Altoona, the 



126 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 




S. M. Griffith, Painting and Decorating. 

first one, formed April 26, 1887, having gone to pieces 
in the spring of 1893. The first Board also had in con- 
templation the preparation of a book of statistics simi- 
lar to this, but the work having been divided and as- 
signed to various members and committees, was neg- 
lected, and the materials for it only partially collected 
and never collated. Following is a complete roster of 
the present Board, all of whom, it is useless to add, are 
among the pushing business men of Altoona who desire 
to have its present prosperity continue, and who are 
willing to contribute both of their time and money to 
any enterprise that will be conducive to that end: 

William L. Adams, general agent. C. T. Askew & 
Co., clothiers. E. K. Baldridge, bank clerk. W. B. 
Bancroft, grocer. Baronner & Fearbeck, butchers. C. 
B. Baumgardner, druggist. Beezer Brothers, architects. 
S. Bendheim, shoe dealer. B. Berkowitz, grocer. Adam 
Bucher, builder and planing mill proprietor. Bunker 
& Fleck, contractors and builders. Thomas J. Burke, 
house furnishing goods. D. T. Cahill, hotelkeeper. J. 
L. Calvert, grocer. G. Casanave, saddle and harness- 
maker. F. M. Christy, physician. Charles B. Clark, 
lawyer and publisher city director}^. H. J. Cornman, 
clothier. Couch & Morgan, insurance and real estate. 
W. M. C. Craine, druggist. Thomas Donohue, hotel- 
keeper. John A. Doyle, lawyer. Matthew Dunn, gen- 
eral merchandise. George S. Eby & Son, tinning and 
sheet-iron work. H. R. Earlenbaugh, general merchan- 
dise. J. W. Ebert, property owner. L. L. Fair, prop, 
erty owner and real estate dealer. Fay, Hutchison & 
Co., wholesale grocers. D. Ferguson & Son, groceries 
and provisions. J. W. Findley, bank cashier. John 
Flannigan, contractor. Fox & Curtis, wholesale shoe 
dealers. E. H. Flick, lawyer. James Flynn, lumber 



manufacturer. S. I. Fries, hardware merchant and 
coal operator. William F. Gable & Co., department 
store. George M. Gesser, merchant tailor. S. M. 
Griffith, painter and decorator. George W. Harpham, 
city controller. Frank Hastings, bank cashier. H. T. 
Heinsling, lawyer. W. J. Heinsling, general merchan- 
dise and banker. William H. Herr, contractor and prop- 
erty owner. Frederick Hesser, dry goods merchant. S. 
M. Hoyer, coal dealer — Mayor of Altoona. A. Jessel, 
millinery and ladies' coats. George Kalish, clothier. 
J. Kramer, wall paper and stationery. William A. 
Lander, dry goods merchant. D. Laughman & Co., 
coal operators. W. S. Lee, general merchandise. Mac- 
Donald & Keesey, fire insurance agents. Thomas K. 
Maher, coal, wholesale. Samuel March, clothier. J. 
Ross Mateer, druggist. John McConnell, clothier. Thos. 
I. McKiernan, Pennsylvania Railroad foreman. R. 
McMahan, cigars and tobacco. C. W. Moore, grocer. 
F. M. Morrow, dry goods merchant. William Murray's 
Son & Co., dry goods merchants. H. L. Nicholson, 
property owner — Ticket agent Pennsylvania Railroad. 
Carl Olmes, cattle dealer and property owner. M. V. 
Orner, contractor and builder. John O'Toole, alderman 
and real estate agent. Louis Plack, property owner and 
retired merchant and manufacturer. Quandt & Cherry, 
merchant tailors. Rudisill Brothers, jewelers. F. D. 
Saupp, property owner. John Schenk, hotel proprietor. 
S. M. Sellers, druggist. W. L. Shellenberger, coal, lime, 
sand, terra cotta pipe, etc. August Simon, shoe dealer. 




F. M, Seeley, Pennsylvania Ice Company, 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



127 



"H. Slutzkcr, wholesale notions. R. H. Spendley, 
•coal operator. Samuel Sprankle, clothier. Stern & 
Bendheim, clothiers. Joseph Stevens, furniture dealer 
and undertaker. TheGoodfellow-Melvin Co.. hardware. 
P. H. Walls, coal operator and lumber dealer. Harry 



Wayne & Co., furniture dealers. W. C. Westfall, hatter 
and gents' furnisher. S. J. Westley, banker. H. J. 
White & Co., wholesale grocers. W. R. Whitmore, shoe 
dealer. Winn & Nicholson, insurance agents. William 
L. Woodcock, lawyer. C. C. Wright & Bro., grocers. 





R. A. O. Kerr, Insurance and Steamship Agent, 



John B, Westley, who Built the First House in Altoona. 





J. L. Calvert, Grocer, 



C, M. Robinson, Architect, 




HILE Altoona contains no select Four Hundred, 
nor, indeed, any other number of exclusive 
aristocrats, all citizens of g-ood moral charac- 
ter, or a reputation for such, who are industrious and 
make enoug-h to live on comfortably, may be said to be- 
long to the best Altoona society; certainly all such are 
well thought of and well spoken of by the others. This 
class constitutes by far the larger part of the inhabi- 
tants and they all meet on equal terms socially; the rich 
merchant and the mechanic of limited means are social 
equals. Nearly every one belongs to or at least attends 
one of the numerous churches of the city, and each 
church's membership is to a large extent a society of itself, 
in a sense other than spiritual; members of the same 
church associate with families of their own denomina- 
tion almost exclusively, and even in marriage few young- 
people gx> outside their own circle. Grand balls, swell 
parties and formal receptions are of rare occurrence 
here, the church services, sociables and entertainments 
taking their place. Among the Catholic young- people 
balls are of frequent occurrence, but these are not at all 
elaborate. Clubs attract many of the German people 
of both sexes, and lodges and secret societies draw largely 



on the male members of the community, while theater 
going is a popular amusement with young and old of 
both sexes so far as they can afford the necessary ex- 
pense. 

Promenading the main business streets afternoons 
and evenings, when unemployed, is a favorite amuse- 
ment with many and in summer time the park draws 
larg-e crowds. The idle and vagrant class is compara- 
tively small, nearly every person has some work or busi- 
ness which occupies the greater part of his time and his 
recreation is an hour's mingling- with the busy throng- 
on the street, an evening at the club, theater, lodge or 
church or a, half holiday at the park. Such is the busy 
life of the inhabitants of Altoona and their simple and 
inuocent amusements; so that dissipation in individual 
cases is rare and a vicious criminal class unknown. The 
majority of the people here were reared in the country 
or smaller towns of the adjoining counties and do not 
ape city manners now that they live in a larger place. 
Nearly all are intelligent and well informed; free schools 
and cheap newspapers and books have placed much of 
the knowledge of the world within their reach and they 
have taken the full benefit of all these advantages. 





Residence of C. M. Robinson, Architect— on Logan Valley Electric Railway, near Hollidaysburg. 



m 






X 



AMUSEMENTS, 



*^ 



000 
000 



!H1 




HE greater portion of the people of Altoona, as 
remarked in the chapter on social life, have 
a trade, profession or employment which they 
follow for a livelihood, and there are comparatively few 
leading- a life of ease, a butterfly existence, in search of 
pleasure only. The workers, however, must have relax- 
ation, and, after spending - six to twelve hours of the day 
at labor, they seek an hour 
or so of recreation in the 
evening-, or, after a week's 
toil, take a half holiday. 
Their amusements are, for 
the greater part, innocent 
•ones, some regarding- a 
walk up and down 
Eleventh Avenue, with a 
view of its busy throng 
and handsomely trimmed 
store windows, a satisfac- 
iory and inexpensive 
treat; others go to the 
theater or museum, some 
to the club houses, where 
social chat and beer- 
drinking are the princi- 
pal features; others, who 
have no club, go to the 
hotel bar room, and, while 
sipping beer, or between 
drinks of a stronger 
liquid, boast of their vari- 
ous accomplishments, or 
tell of adventures by land 
and sea to whoever will 
listen; others go to lodge 
meetings. Saturday after- 
noons and Sundays are 
favorite times to visit the 
park or the mountains. 

Altoona has one thea- 
ter, or opera house; this is 
located on Eleventh Street 

at the west corner of Eleventh Avenue. The play sea- 
son begins here about the first of September, and con- 
tinues until May, during which time there are shows of 
one kind or another an average of three nights per 
week, or more. This is rated as a "one-night" town, 
but occasionally troupes remain a week, giving a differ- 
ent play each night, with matinees Wednesday and Sat- 
urday afternoons. The character of plays at this thea- 




ter. H. Kelley £ Co.'s Wholesale and Retail Jewelry Store, 
Corner Eleventh Avenue and Eleventh Street. 



ter are generally good, and the best troupes on the road, 
visiting cities of less than 100,000 inhabitants, stop 
here; including minstrels, variety, comedy and tragedy. 
The regular rates are 75 cents for the best seats, 50 and 
35 cents for the others. Frequently higher priced shows 
are given, and SI. 00 and $1.50 is charged for the good 
seats, 75 and 50 cents for the others. Occasionally, 
also, lower than regular 
rates prevail, and for 
troupes that stop for a 
week the rates are some- 
times 50, 35 and 25 cents, 
while at other times they 
are reduced to 30, 20 and 
10 cents. Besides the 
opera house there is a 
museum and theater, 
known as Harry Davis' 
Eden Musee and Family 
Theater. This is a frame 
building on leased ground 
in connection with the 
rear part of the Phoenix 
block, the frame part be- 
longing to Harry Davis, 
of Pittsburg. The en- 
trance is on Green Ave- 
nue, near Eleventh 
Street. This musee and 
variety theater opens its 
season in October and 
closes in April. During 
the season three perform- 
ances are given daily (ex- 
cept Sunday), beginning 
at 1:30, 7:30 and 9:00 p. m. 
Admission, 10 cents; and 
5 and 10 cents additional 
for reserved seats. Usual- 
ly, the same play is re- 
peated at the eighteen 
performances, there being 
a change of players and program each week. The char- 
acter of these entertainments is very good, considering 
the price, and the musee is quite popular with the large 
class that cannot afford to patronize the high-priced 
opera house. The Phoenix Block, which fronts on 
Eleventh Street, and is a very fine structure, was orig- 
inally built for a theater in 1887, and was so used for one 
season when a fire destroyed the interior, and it was 



130 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X 



afterward remodeled, as at present, for a business block. 
It was called the Mountain City Theater. 

The Frohsinn Singing- Society, of Altoona, has a fine 
building - on Ninth Avenue, between Eleventh and 
Twelfth Streets, the second and third stories of which 
are arranged as a theater, and the building - is now known 
as the East Side Theater. Occasional plays are pro- 
duced here, sometimes by home talent and at other times 
by traveling- troupes, the rates being usually 30 cents 
for seats, and, of course, the plays are such as are usual- 
ly produced by low-priced companies. 

The park, which is a favorite resort in summer time, 
and also in the winter when there is skating-, is a pleas- 
ure ground covering about 100 acres, situated on the 
line of the Logan Valley Eledric Passenger Railway, 



dancing Saturday afternoon and evening, and in winter 
the lake is free to skaters when the ice is strong enough 
to bear. Picnics may be held here by societies, Sunday 
schools and others without charge, and there are plenty 
of tables for use free. A restaurant is also carried on in 
a part of the casino, and ice cream and confections are 
served at reasonable prices there and at the gravity pa 
vilion. Crowds of 3,000 to 5,000 people are often assem- 
bled in this park, and it was estimated that not less tha 
20,000 people visited it on the Fourth of July, 1895. 

Another resort of great popularity is Wopsononoc 
Mountain, about four miles north of Altoona in a direct 
line, but six miles by rail or carriage road. There is 
one very good hotel here, and an observatory on the 
crest of the mountain, while the woods surrounding the- 




Altoona Brewery, Thirteenth Street and Fifteenth Avenue, 



midway between Altoona and Hollidaysburg. It is 
owned by the Logan Valley Electric Passenger Railway 
Company who purchased the grounds, laid out the park, 
constructed buildings and a large artificial lake in 1893 
to make an attractive resort and thus add to their rev- 
enue by carrying people there from the two towns. A 
great deal of money was spent on it, and it is one of the 
finest parks in the State, having a large casino and other 
buildings for shelter from rain and storm, and for 
dancing and other amusements, a very fine carrousal or 
merry-go-'round, and a gravity railroad. There is also 
an inclosure with several fine deer and some other ani- 
mals. There is a fine baseball field also, and the lake is 
supplied with boats for hire, twenty-five or thirty skiffs 
and an electric launch. Free music is furnished for free 



hotel on all sides are uuinclosed and form a rather beau- 
tiful natural park many thousands of acres in extent. 

This place is reached by a good carriage road, but 
since the construction of the Altoona, Clearfield and 
Northern Railroad to that place the trip is usually made 
by rail. In the summer season trains make the trip at 
frequent intervals, and are often crowded with passen- 
gers, the trip up requiring one-half hour. Pigeon- 
shooting tournaments, baseball and picnics are the at- 
tractions here. From the lookout, half a mile from the 
hotel, one stands on the edge of the mountain, from 
whence Altoona is plainly discernible almost at one's 
feet. Bellwood is also in plain view, and, with a field 
glass, it is said one can see objects in seven different 
counties. 



2£ X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X 



131 



Cresson Springs, although fifteen miles west 
of Altoona, is yet a popular place of resort for 
many, and the Sunday afternoon trains from this 
city in summer always carry many passengers 
for that place who go to enjoy the beautiful 
scenery, than which there is no finer found, even 
in famed Switzerland. There is an immense 
hotel at Cresson, owned by the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company, W. R. Dunham, of the Logan 
House, manager, which is operated as a summer 
resort, and open only from June to October in 
each year. 

Driving is a form of amusement which ought 
to be more popular than it is, as the livery rates 
for carriages arc extremely low, and the roads 
leading from Altoona in every direction are gen- 
erally well kept, and, except in rainy seasons, 
very nice to ride over, and the scenery is pictur- 
esque and beautiful whichever way oue goes. 

Bicycling has a goodly number of devotees. 
Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Avenues have long 
stretches of almost level and smoothly paved 
surface — very fine for this exercise — and the pike 
to Hollidaysburg is a favorite course for longer 
rides. 

Hunting and fishing is also indulged in by 
those who have leisure for it. Trout streams 
abound in the mountains a few miles distant, and 
deer are shot each winter in this and adjoining 
counties by Altoona hunters. 





Residence of E. H. Flick, Esq.,2525 Broad Avenue, (Beezer Bros., Architects') 




Fesidence of Joseph Nixon, Sixth Avenue, Between Twelfth and 
Thirteenth Streets. (Beezer Bros., Architects.) 



Residence of James Flynn, 2423 Broad Avenue, 



?7ir 



hhh 



B 



THE ALTOONA BAR, 



a; 




T WOULD be unpardonable arrogance, being "one of them," for the writer to affirm that all the members 
of the city bar are bright stars in the legal firmament, but it can be said, with perfect candor and truth- 
fulness, that among' its numbers are included some of the most learned in the law, some of the most eloquent 
pleaders and some of the best known lawyers in Pennsylvania, and that as a whole, the bar of Altoona may safely 
challenge comparison with any in the State or elsewhere. The halls of Congress frequently resound with the 
eloquence of one, and no session of the State Legislature is complete without the presence of one or more of them. 
The number of resident Attorne3*s is now 48, and the names, with date of admission to the Blair County Bar, is 
given below. Among the more recent accessions are some who were admitted earlier in other counties. 




Altoona Members of the Blair County Bar Association. 



Colonel D. J. Neff November 1, 1854 

William L. Woodcock October 27, 1865 

Milton Alexander July 26, 1869 

A. J. Riley January 25, 1869 

Fred JaEkel January 27, 1869 

A. V. Divelv May 1, 1873 

J. S. Leisenring July 28, 1873 

Edmund Shaw December 17, 1873 

Thomas H. Greevy January 29, 1874 

Robert Johnson September 1, 1874 

J. D. Hicks April 27, 1875 

H. T. Heinsling September 1, 1875 

N. P. Mervine March 9, 1876 

John A. Doyle January 26, 1877 

Edwin M. Amies December 20, 1880 

W. S. Hammond March 28, 1881 



W. M. Beyer March 20, 1882 

E. H. Flick ' January 20, 1884 

W. H. Bridenbaugh June 28, 1884 

James H. Craig August 28, 1884 

D. Clare Good July 6, 1885 

A. H. McCamant October 7, 1885 

Charles B. Clark October 14, 1885 

George B. Bowers January 13, 1886 

Frank G. Patterson October 5, 1886 

H. Price Graffius May 2, 1887 

John K. Patterson June 20, 1887 

Charles Geesey December 21, 1891 

W. C. Fletcher May l, 1893 

A. S. Fisher May 1, 1893 

A. W. Porter August 28, 1893 

J. Banks Kurtz October 7, 1893 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



133 



M. M. McNeie October 25, 1893 

H. G. Stover August 29, 1893 

Thomas C. Hake September 25, 1893 

R. A. Henderson August 27, 1894 

H. F. Walters June 18, 1894 

W. Frank Vaughn May 7, 1894 

H. C. Madden May 6, 1895 

S. A. McNEAl, May 6, 1S95 



F. M. McCuli.ough May 8, 1895 

W. B. Manley May 8, 1895 

M. M. Morrow March 11, 1895 

Alonzo P. MaceEOD January 11, 1896 

H. W. Cuep March 11, 1895 

W. H. Cover October 7, 1895 

Harry Aevim Davis December 2, 1895 

W. W. Atkinson Fet ruyra, 3 1896 




Charles B, Clark, Attorneyat'Law. 





William L. Woodcock, Attorneyat'Law. 




Hon. J. D. Hicks, Attorney at'Law —Member of Congress. 



Hon, J. K. Patterson, Attorneyat'Law — Member of Legislature. 



134 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 





Thomas H. Grcevy, Attorney .-at'Law, 



A. V, Dively, Attorney 'at'Law. 




Residence of P. W. Finn, 2606 Proad Avenue, C, M, Robinson, Architect. 




dfelasfei 



Lodges and Fraternal Societies, 




ECRET SOCIETIES, of a beneficial character, 
are popular and numerous in Altoona, and in- 
clude nearly all of the better class of such or- 
ders. Many of the prominent business men are Masons 
or Odd Fellows, and both of these orders own the build- 
ings in which they meet; the Masonic Temple being- one 
of the finest and most costly structures in the city, 
stands on the south corner of Twelfth Avenue and 
Eleventh Street. It is a four-story brick building-, 50x 
120 feet in size, most substantially constructed and finely 
finished. The first and second stories are used for 
stores and offices, the third and fourth for lodge rooms 
and banquet hall. The latter, on the fourth floor, is 
considered one of the finest in the State, and the build- 
ing as a whole is a model one. 

The Odd Fellows' building on Twelfth Street, be- 
tween Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, a three-story brick, 
was built and formerly owned by the Masonic fraternity, 
but now belongs to an association composed of members 
of the different lodges of Odd Fellows in the city. It 
was erected about 1S60. 

Other strong orders are: Patriotic Sons of America, 
Knights of the Golden Eagle, Knights of Pythias, Hep- 
tasophs, Foresters, and Junior Order American Mechan- 
ics. The Grand Army of the Republic has two posts 
and a large membership, and the Union Veteran Legion 





Observatory at Lookout, Wopsononock, 



C. D. Beegle — Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias. 

also has an organization here; also the Sons of Veterans. 
Other societies, with one or more lodges, are the Elks, 
Red Men, Knights of the Mystic Chain, Knights of 
Malta, Order of Solon, Chosen Friends; also the various 
labor organizations. 

Clubs and Singing Societies. 

Juniata Club — Club house 914 Chestnut Avenue (leased), 
a fine building, formerly residence of Eouis Plack. 

The Elks — (Beneficial and protective order), occupy 
the entire third floor of Nicholson building, 1425 
Eleventh Avenue. 

Feohsinn Society — Own a fine brick building about 
50x120 feet in size and three stories high, on Ninth 
Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. 
This building is now called the East Side Theater. 

The Turners — Own a hall on Ninth Avenue, between 
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, a one-story frame 
building. 



ALTOONA ELECTRICAL 

Engineering § Supply Co. 

No. 1409 Eleventh Avenue, 

ALTOONA, PA. 

WIRES, BELLS, BATTERIES and Supplies for 

the Trad.-. Electroliers and Combination 

Brackets. Electric Light Plants 

. . Installed. . . 

Buildings Wired for Electric Lighting-. Hotels 
and Private Houses Equipped with Annun- 
ciators, Bells and Burglar Alarms. 

ELECTRIC RAILWAY CONTRACTORS. 
Electric Motors. Electric Railway Supplies. 



tWKAn NEdFFER, 



Wholesale and Retail Deale 



SLL KINDS OF JUNK, 

Second-hand Stoves, Etc. 



813 Seventeenth St., 



ALTOONA. 



PASSENGER ELEVATOR. 
STEAM HEAT. 
ELECTRIC LIGHT. 



33rant 

JOHN SCHENK, - Proprietor. 

RSTES - 3 

.. ,$2.00... 

£> PER DRY. 



GILES 'BROS., 

G ROCERS ^ 

And Wholesale Stationery and Notions. 

RETAIL GROCERY STORE, jn. 
WHOLESALE STATIONERY STORE, 713. 

Nos. 711-13 Twelfth Street, 

ALTOONA, PA. 



PARKEH B^OS. 

Flooring, Siding, Doors, Sash, Blinds 

and all kinds of Mill Work. 
Dealers in Rough LUMBER of every description. 



OFFICE AND MILL: 

JUNIATA, Juniata Borough, PA. 



jfcarry Slutzker^ 

SUCCESSOR TO LEWINE «Sc SLUTZKER 

Importer t and \ Jobber, 

Hosiery, Gloves, Underwear, Notions, White Goods, 
Gents' Furnishings, Etc. 



1418 ELEVENTH AVENUE, 



ALTOONA, PA. 



Harpy Wayne & Co. 

* HOUSE 
FURNISHERS. 



Green Avenue and f4inth Street, 

HuTOOflfl, PH. 

Sole Agents in Blair County for the CINDERELLA 

Stoves and Ranges. 



K. 



j{ltoona Conservator!/ ; sp 



of97?> 



% UJIC. 

J. MAHLON DUGANNE, - - Director 

Only Conservatory in Central Pennsylvania. 
PIANO, VIOLIN, VOICE, ORGAN and all 
Orchestral Instruments taught by- 
thorough instructors. 
436 
MATEER BUILDING, - 1414 Eleventh Ave, 

Send for Circulars. 



Cor. 



B. HUTCHISON & CO. 

DEALERS IN 

General 
Merchandise, 

ialty of FINE GROCERIES, FLOUR 
AND FEED. 

JOHN ST. and FOURTH AVE. 

dUNI^Tfl, PA. 



136 



G.V.GARDNER, 

Flour, Feed I Grain, 

HAY, STRAW, SHAVINGS, ROLLED 
OATS, BUCKWHEAT, SALT, 

CORN MEAL, Etc. 
Agent for famous Red Crescent, Cresswell's Roller 

and other family Flours. 

1701 Union Ave., - Altoona, Pa. 

Telephone 632. 



J. J. WARNER, 



DEALER IN 



Dry Goods, Groceries, 

Provisions, Boots, Shoes, 

Flour, Feed and Straw. 
No. 1515 THIRTEENTH STREET. 






Phoenix Telephone, 159. 









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FACTS, 










HE following statement of facts is, for the most 
part, a repetition in the fewest possible words 
of what has already been said in detail — a sum- 
mary or synopsis of the whole: 

Altoona is just 45 years old, and has grown in that 
short period from half a dozen families to 44,000 inhab- 
itants, ranking now as the eighth city in the State, and 
is still growing more rapidly than any other in propor- 
tion to her population. 

The assessed valuation of the city is $15,464,930, 
which is almost one-half the total valuation of the 
county. Personal property and stocks of merchandise 
not included in the as- 
sessment are worth 
$10,000,000 more. The 
assessment is not more 
than two-thirds the ac- 
tual value, so to it may 
be added $5,000,000 
more, making the ag- 
gregate wealth $30,- 
000,000. 

The bonded debt of 
the city is $909,000, at 
4 per cent, interest 
per annum, the same 
rate as United States 
Government gold 
bonds, for which she 
can show a water sys- 
tem worth $1,000,000, 
a sewer system which 
cost $350. 000, and other 
city property and real 
•estate worth $50,000. 

There are over eight 
miles of well-paved 
streets in the city. 

There are 13 miles 



City Finances, 

The assessed value of city property for 1896 is $15,464,930. 

The bonded indebtedness of the city is $430,000, and the water 
department loans $479,000; total, $909,000. All funded at the low 
rate of 4 per cent, per annum. There is no floating- debt. 

The tax rate for 1895 was— 

For city purposes, sinking- fund and water loans lyi, mills 

For school purposes 6 mills 

For county and state 4 mills 

Total tax for all purposes \iy z mills 

The rate for 1896 has not been fixed yet, but will not vary 
much from 1895. The estimated expenses for the year 1896 approx- 
imate $175,000. The estimated receipts are: 






Washington Hotel, Corner Fifth 



of electric passenger railway in the city, between the 
power house and Juniata, including double tracks, and 
12 miles extending to neighboring towns. 

rjAltoona is located on the main line of the Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad, one of the richest and best managed roads 
in the United States, having in control 8,816 miles of 
road. The gross receipts of the Pennsylvania system 
are double those of any other system in America. This 
railroad company has its principal shops at Altoona, 
and employ over 9,000 men in the shops, yards, and divis- 
ions centering here. 



Avenue and William Street, Juniata. M. G, Trout, Proprietor. 

From city mercantile licenses $ 7,000 00 

From hotel licenses, (Brook's Liquor Law.) 17,000 00 

From Board of Health permits 375 00 

From fines imposed by the Mayor, building- permits, etc. 4,000 00 

From delinquent tax duplicate 14,000 00 

From duplicate of 1896 (amount likely to be paid during 

the year) 75,000 00 

Water rents and permits 58,000 00 

Total $178,375 00 

The above does not include the school fund. The amount that 
will be realized from the 6 mills levy, supplemented by the State 
appropriation, is in exclusive control of the School Board, and 
will be ample for the expenses of the schools during the ensuing- 
year. 



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v DISTANCES AND FARES, -/«, 



-:- -:- -:- 




T IS frequently a matter of convenience or 
curiosity to know the distance to surrounding- 
towns and other cities in the country to which 
one might wish to journey as well as the regular fare by 
rail, and the following table of distances and rates has 
been prepared for the purpose of meeting such inquiry. 
It may be stated that three cents per mile is the regular 
rate on most the railroads of Pennsylvania and pretty 
generally on all roads in the northern states east of the 
Mississippi river, excepting the State of New York, 
where it is established by law at two cents. 

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company issues a thousand 
mile ticket, in convenient book form, with coupons which 
is sold at $20 and is only good in the hands of the pur- 
chaser on the main line and branches east of Pittsburg 
and Erie, but not between New York and Philadelphia. 



Blair County, 

The Distance from Altoona to 



Eldorado, 3.3 miles, regular fare 

Hollidaysburg, 7.6 miles, regular fare 

Roaring Spring, 17.3 miles, regular fare. . . 

Martinsburg, 21.5 miles, regular fare 

Henrietta, 27.1 miles, regular fare 

Williamsburg, 21 5 miles, regular fare 

Duncansville, 7.2 miles, regular fare 

Newry, 9.3 miles, regular fare 

Bsllwood, 6.8 miles, regular fare 

Tyrone, 14.3 miles, regular fare 

Kittanning Point, S.3 miles, regular fare. 



.10 
.23 
52 

.67 
.81 
.65 
.22 
.28 
.20- 
.43 
.16 



Beyond the County, 




Gallitzin, 11.8 miles, regular fare 

Cresson, 16.0 miles, regular fare 

South Fork, 29.3 miles, regular fare 

Johnstown, 38 7 miles, regular fare 

Blairsville Intersection, 63.4 miles, regular fare 

Latrobe, 76.0 miles, regular fare 

Greensburg, 85.6 mile-, regular fare 

Jeannette, 90.0 miles regular fare : 

Irwin, 85.2 miles, regular fare 

Wilmerding, 102.9 miles, regular fare 

JBraddock, 106.8 miles, regular fare. . . 

Wilkinsburg, 110.2 miles, regular fare 

East Liberty, 112.5 miles, regular fare 

Pittsburgh, 116.9 miles, regular fare 

East of Altoona and Tyrone, 

Huntingdon, 34.0 miles, regular fare 
Mapleton, 42.6 miles, regular fare 
Mount Union, 45.8 miles, regular fare 
Lewistown, 70.7 miles, regular fare 

Mifflin, 82.5 miles, regularfare 

Newport, 104.0 miles, regular fare 
Harrisburg, 131.7 miles, regular fare 

On Branch Roads in Adjoining Counties, 




Ebensburg, 26.2 miles, regular fare. 

Hastings, 46 miles, regular fare 

Carrolltown, 32 miles, regular fare 

Coalport, 40 miles, regular fare (via. Cresson). 

Philipsburg, 37.8 miles, regular fare 

Osceola, 33 miles, regular fare 

Clearfield, 54.9 miles, regular fare 

Curwensville, 61.4 miles, regular fare 

Houtzdale, 39 miles, regular fare 

Bellefonte, 47.8 miles, regular fare 

Lock Haven, 68.5 miles, regular fare 



.79 
1.38 

.97 
1.20 
1.14 
1.00 
1.65 
1.84 
1.17 
1.44 
2.06 



Juniata Club House, Chestnut Avenue, between Ninth and Tenth Streets. 



Large Cities Outside of Pennsylvania, 

New York, 326.7 miles, regular fare $ 9.45 

Baltimore, 216.4 miles, regular fare 6.49 

Washington, 250.4 miles, regular fare 7.69 

Boston, Mass., 614 miles, via N.Y. &N. E. , regular fare 14.45 
Buffalo, N. Y., 352 miles, via Pittsburg, regularfare. . 8.90 

Richmond, Va., 375 miles, regular fare H-19 

Charleston, S. C. 807 miles, regular fare 24.19 



*<L *<L 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 



>•/- >»^ 



139 



Large Cities Outside of Pennsylvania— Continued. 

Jacksonville, Florida, 1,040 miles, regular fare $28.75 

New Orleans, La., 1,260 miles, via Pgh, regular fare. 32.85 

Columbus, Ohio, 309 miles, regular fare 9.25 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 430 miles, regular fare . . . 11.85 

Louisville, Ky., 540 miles, regular fare 15.35 

Cleveland, Ohio, 266 miles, regular fare 7.50 

Detroit, Mich., 428 miles, regularfare 12.00 

Indianapolis, Ind., 490 miles, regular fare 13.50 

Chicago, 111., 584 miles, via Ft. Wayne, i egular fare. . 15.50 

St. Louis, Mo., 730 miles, regular fare 17.25 

St. Paul, Minn., 986 miles, regular fare 27.00 

Omaha, Neb., 1,087 miles, regular fare 28.25 

Kansas City, Mo., 1,102 miles, regular fare 26.75 

Denver, Col., 1,677 miles, regular fare 43.75 

Salt Lake City, Utah, 2,158 miles, regular fare 56.75 

San Francisco, Cal., 2,954 miles, via U. P., regular fare 76.75 

Galveston, Texas, regular fare 40.75 

Mobile, Alabama, regular fare 28.50 

Memphis, Tennessee, regularfare 24.50 

San Diego, California, regular fare 76.50 

Portland, Oregon, regular fare 76.50 

Seattle or Tacoma, Washington, regular fare 76.60 

Bismark, North Dakota, regular fare 42.10 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, regular fare 16.55 

Muskegon, Michigan, regular fare 16.60 

Augusta, Maine, regular fare 18.95 

Toronto, Canada, regular fare 12.05 

Montreal, Canada, regular fare 19.45 

Steamship Pates to London, England, by American Line 
Steamers from Philadelphia. 

Cabin $30.00 to $50.00 

Steerage $24.50 

Second Cabin via Cunard Line to Capetown, Africa. .157.00 
Railroad fare from Capetown to Johannesburg, 2d class 39.00 

The quickest time across the Atlantic ocean 
from New York to Queenstown, England, was made T ' J ' Trout GeneraI Insurance ' 

by the "Lucania," 5 days, 8 nours and 38 minutes. third full fare for round trip tickets. Each summer four 

During- the holidays, excursions rates are usually special twelve day excursions are given to Atlantic City 

given by the Pennsylvania Railroad at one and one- or aa y of the New Jersey coast towns for $8.00 round trip. 

Every winter an excursion rate is made to Jack- 
sonville, Florida, $50.00 for round trip, good from 
date of purchase until about the first of May; other 
southern winter resorts at correspondingly low rates. 
In February and March several excursions are run 
to Washington, D. C. for $7.35 round trip, with ten 
day limit. Also in the summer season excursion 
rates for vacation tours are made at a considerable 
reduction from regularrates to all points of interest 
in the United States and Dominion of Canada. 

During the summer and autumn several excur- 
sions are given from Altoona to Niagara Falls via 
Bell wood over the Pennsylvania and North Western 
Railroad to Punxsutawney and from there by the 
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad, passing 
through Bradford and the oil regions of northern 
Pennsylvania. The rate for this round trip, with 
ten day limit, is only $5.00. 

During the Exposition at Pittsburgh, each fall, 
the Pennsylvania Railroad gives one or more ex- 
cursions from Altoona at a single fare for the round 

Schenk Block, Corner Eleventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street, A, Griesen, Owner, '' ■' 





Seconfc Hational Bank, 



Washington Hotel, 



M. G. TROUT, Proprietor. 



ALTOONA, PA. 

JOHN P. LEV AN, President, 

CHARLES B. DUDLEY, Vice President, 

PRANK HASTINGS, Cashier. 

CAPITAL, $100,000. 

We Respectfully Solicit Your Patronage. 

C. F. RSNDOLPH, 

Manufacturing Pharmacist, 

1226 ELEVENTH STREET. 
High Grade Flavoring and Seasoning Extracts. 
Hurt Salve. Delight Dentifrice. NUTS, F J 

Wild Flowers of America Cologne, Etc. j 1410 Eleventh Avenue, ALTOONA, PA. 



JUNIATA, 



KIPPLE, P. 0., PA. 



WALDOW & CO., 

Manufacturers of and Jobbers in 

pine + Confectionery, 






Jg.F. W. FINN,, 

Ci^it Stone Co 



AND DEALETC IN 



^.1^1^ KITVOSi OF JS r JTC>]XJE WOKK. 



■Stone Smved to Any Size. Estimates Fui-iiisthed Promptly 

FLAGOINC; ATVD CURBUNG FOR SIDE WALKS A. SPECIALTY. 

1722-1724 Ninth Ave. bet. Seventeenth and Nineteenth Sts. ALTOONA, PA. 



THOMffS WEIR, 

SUCCESSOR TO H. P. WILSON. 

Wholesale Confectionery and Drug House 

Nos. 1016 and 1018 Eleventh Avenue, 
ALTOONA, PA. 

SCHMITT HOUSE, 

1111 Thirteenth Street, VA Blocks from P. E. R. Station, 
A; ALTOONA, PENNA. X 



H. O. TUSSEY, 

1810 MARGARET AVENUE, - - ALTOONA, PA 

Anthracite and Bituminous Coals, 

COKE AND KINDLING WOOD. 
WHOLES %LE AND RETAIL. BELL TELEPHONE 533. 



Luok for Us if You Want a 

Good Photograph 

of Yourself or Family, Eusiness Place or Residence, 
Horses, Etc., Etc. 



lart's Portrait @o., -»9^ 



EMIL THIEME, 



Proprietor. 140 



Cor. Chestnut Avenue and Eleventh Street, Levan Block, 
ALTOONA, PA. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



141 

















*"V 






•^ 


' 












SJ-.S 






' 












V 









F. L. Sheppard, General Superintendent Pennsylvania Railroad. 






G. W. Strattan, Master Mechanic 
Machine Shops, P. R. R. 



John P. Lsvan, General Foreman 
Car Shops, P. R. R. 



Thos. I. MeKiernan, Foreman 
Carpenters, P. R. R. 




' ' ■''-'^"k^ 



Altoona s Surroundings and the County of Blair, 






jjLTOONA is surrounded by mountains 
on three sides — the Alleghenies, on 
whose foothills she has already be- 
gan to build, and whose summits are five to 
eig-ht miles distant, to the west and north, and 
Brush Mountain, local name, for a part of the 
Allegheny, two miles to the east. On either 
side of the latter extend narrow, fertile valleys, 
which grow wider as they recede from Al- 
toona, and through which the smaller branches 
of the Juniata have their course. Southward 
from Altoona the valley lying between Brush 
Mountain and the Alleghenies extends to Hol- 
lidaysburg, and between these two point? 
Dry Gap Run, Mill Run, Sugar Run, Burgoou's 
or Kittanning, and Blair Run from the west, 
and Brush Run from the east, all come together, 
and, uniting, form the Beaver Dam branch of 
"the Juniata, which flows through Hollidays- 
burg, and then turning eastward is joined at 
Frankstown, two miles distant, by the Franks- 
town branch, which comes northeastward from 
the southern part of the county. Northeast 
from Altoona, and between the other side of 
Brush Mountain and the Wopsononock Mount- 





001^? "V 




F, E, Marshall, Superinten<kn f Altoona Division P. F. F. 



J, M Wallis, Superintendent of Motive Power, P. E. E, 

ain of the Allegheny range, the valley extends to Tyrone, 15 
miles, and through it flows the Little Juniata. At Tyrone 
the mountains close in, and the valley is narrowed to a gorge, 
through which the river passes, and, turning almost at a 
right angle, flows southeastward through Huntingdon County, 
which it enters one mile from Tyrone. These two branches 
of the Juniata come together in Huntingdon County, near 
Petersburg, and about twelve miles from Tyrone. Twelfth 
Street, in Altoona, is about on the dividing line of this water- 
shed, and rain which falls there on one side of the street may 
go to Tyrone, and that on the other side to Hollidaysburg; 
but, in either case, after a trip of 40 miles or more by the 
winding channels of the streams, two drops of water that fall 
side by side on Twelfth Street may join each other in the 
Blue Juniata at Petersburg, and continue on together to the 
Susquehanna, thence to Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic 
Ocean. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



143 



Within the territory thus encompassed by these two 
branches of the Juniata lies one-third of Blair County, 
including' all of Tyrone and Catherine Townships, and 
parts of Logan, Frankstown, Antis and Snyder, and in 
the central part, of the district is one of nature's curious 
freaks, Sinking- Run, which flows on the surface for sev- 
eral miles eastward through Tyrone Township, then dis- 
appears in the earth, and, after several miles of under- 
ground passage, reappears, bursting from a hillside at 
Arch Spring - , from whence, by the name of Arch Spring 
Run, in flows eastward to the Juniata. 

The summit of the Allegheny Mountains, as nearly 
as can be followed, forms the western boundary of the 
count}' from its southeastern corner to nearly the north- 
western corner, and Broad Top Mountains are on the 
southeastern line for two-thirds of its length. Blair 
Count}- is bounded on the west and northwest by Cam- 
"bria County, north by Centre County, east by Hunt- 
ingdon County, and south by Bedford County. The 
northern part is hilly and mountainous, and the southern 
part abounds in fertile valleys. The streams in the 
southern part are the Frankstown branch of the Juniata 
previously mentioned, Poplar Run, Blue Knob Run, Plum 
Creek, Piney Creek and Clover Creek, all of which flow 
into the Frankstown branch. Bituminous coal abounds 
in the Alleghenies and the Broad Top Mountains. 
Iron ore is found to the south and east of Altoona; lead 



and zinc in the eastern part of the county, but the latter 
has not been developed in paying quantities. Fire-clay 
exists in the northern part, and limestone is found in 
great abundance in many parts. 

The area of Blair County is 590 square miles, or 380,- 
160 acres, two-thirds of which is susceptible of cultiva- 
tion, and one-half at least cultivated. The population 
in 1890 was 70,866, and is now not less than 80,000, of 
which Altoona, with its suburbs, has considerably more 
than one-half. The other towns of importance are: 
Tyrone, IS miles northeast, with 8,000; Hollidaysburg, 
7 miles south, with 4,000; Roaring Spring, 17 miles 
south, with 1,000; Martinsburg, 22 miles south, with 
1,000; Williamsburg, 11 miles east of Hollidaysburg, 
with 1,000; Bellwood, between Altoona and Tyrone, 
with 1,500; Duncansville, two miles west of Hollidays- 
burg, with 900. All reached by the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road or branches. 

Maps of Blair County, made between 1835 and 1880, 
show a smill lake about three miles south of Hollidays- 
burg. This was the reservoir which supplied the canal 
with water during its existence, and was kept up for 
years after the canal had been abandoned. It was 
drained off in 1882, and its bed is now a cultivated field, 
but Reservoir Station, on the Morrison Cove branch; 
still suggests its former existence at that point, and 
much of the stone work of the old dam remains to this day. 



Climate, Water, Soil, Productions, 




]ITH the exception of occasional sudden changes 
of temperature, the climate of Altoona and Blair 
county is as fine as any in the north temper- 
ate zone; the latitude of Altoona being 40j4 degrees 
north of the equator; summer heat seldom exceeds 90 
degrees Fh., and then for but a day or so at a time, and 
100 is the maximum, only experienced a few hours at a 
time and for a few days in any year; many years not at 
all. The winters are just cold enough, usually, to make 
skating for Christmas and ice to store for summer and 
to have four or five weeks of sleighing in January and 
February. Zero weather only comes a few times during 
the winter and 15 degrees below zero may be considered 
the maxium of cold; some winters pass without even zero 
"being reached. Generally speaking the summer warm 
-weather is from 70 to 80 degrees Fh., and the winter 
cold 40 to 20 degrees. The warm bright days of late 
autumn and early spring have a beauty and balmyness 
peculiarly pleasant, and so delightful as to make mere 
existence a pleasure. This fact is attributable to the 
elevation and purity of the atmosphere. 

The water, coming from the mountain streams where 
contamination is nearly impossible, is as pure as any in 



Nature's storehouse, and very pleasant to the taste. 
The supply, gathered at Kittanning Point reservoir and 
brought to the door of every house in Altoona through 
iron pipes and by force of gravity is, excepting after 
heavy rains, clear as crystal and in comparison with the 
water of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or Harrisburg, a very 
nectar of the gods. 

The soil of Blair County is a light gravelly loam or 
sandy, no heavy clay soil. That of the mountain sides 
and hills of course is stony and not very fertile, but in 
all the valleys it is rich enough to produce excellent 
crops, and in the vicinity of Altoona much of it is ultilized 
for market gardens and fruits. Vegetables of all kinds, 
common to this latitude, grow well with the possible 
exception of melons. Fruits are plentiful and do well, 
except that peaches, when unsheltered by buildings in 
close proximity, are sometimes killed by late frosts. 
Apples are raised in considerable quantities, and no 
reason exists why more should not be grown, it being 
only necessary to plant and care for the trees. Every 
farmer has or may have apples, peaches, pears, plums, 
cherries and grapes in abundance, and even on small 
lots in town families often raise a sufficent supply for 
their own consumption. 






l - 



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Li 
P, 
; 

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W. B. HICKS, Manager. 



H. M. STOVER, Treasurer. 



^ 



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Jvltoona s 

Sreatest 

illustrated 



journal 



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PI 



Issued every Sunday morning at 15 cents a 


month, 


or $1,50 a year, payable in advance, 




At the home of the News, 
No, 816 East Twelfth Street, 


# 


All kinds of Job Printing: 
Done and neatly designed. 


promptly 


* / * 




-1. 



I- 



S3 

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•1 



PRICES MODERATE. 



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Blair County in the Path of Empire, 



Si 




LAIR COUNTY occupies an advantageous 
position in the path of Empire, being on 
the line of the most practicable route 
between Philadelphia and Pittsburg and the West. 
Whatever improvements have been or may be made 
in this great highway, none are possible in the 
route; it has always been through Blair County, 
it will always remain here. 

In 1740 to 1750 the Indian trail was up the 
Juniata river to its head waters near the site of Al- 
toona and from thence across the mountains to the 
Conemaugh and westward along the valley of that 
stream. In 1815 to 1820. when a pike road was 
being constructed across the State it followed the 
same general lines. In 1S25 to 1830, when a canal 
was projected, no better route could be found; and 
in 1850 to 1852 iron and steel rails for the locomo- 
tive were laid along the same path; each being an 
improvement on what had gone before and each 
passing through the heart of Blair County, increas- 
ing her business importance and adding to her 
wealth. 

Time will also demonstrate that Blair County 
is on a favorable route for a great north and south 
railroad, which will be begun early in the coming 





Residence of William F. Gable, Fourteenth Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, 



A Neat First Ward Residence, (C. M, Robinson, Architect.) 



century, if not indeed be- 
fore the close of this one. 
Northward it will extend 
to Buffalo and Ontario, 
Canada ; Southward to 
Baltimore, Washington 
and Norfolk, the coming 
seaport city of the South. 

Future historians of 
Pennsylvania will have 
much to say of the won- 
derful County of Blair. 
The pseudonym "Little 
Blair," which was affec- 
tionately bestowed by 
some thoughtless admirer 
is quite inappropriate in 
referring to a county of 
such importance as this 
and should be eschewed by 
all patriotic citizens. 
Great Blair, phenominal 
Blair, or the Common- 
wealth of Blair, is a more 
appropriate appellation 
for the birthplace of Al- 
toona City. 



HI 

mi 



CHAIN OF TITLE OP THE ROBESON FARM ON WHICH ALTODN A WAS FIRST LAIO OUT, 







HE following- chain of title to the original Al- 
toona will be valuable as well as interesting to 
all owners of real estate within its limits: In 
the beginning of the world, commonly supposed to 
be about 6,000 years ago, the entire surface of the earth 
was given to Adam and Eve and their descendants, and 
for a long time thereafter the land was held in common, 
was free as water and air, whoever would, might oc- 
cupy and cultivate as much as he choose. As mankind 
became more numerous certain parts of the earth's sur- 
face became more desirable, and those in possession 
were, by common consent, admitted to have the best 
right, and could not, with justice, 
be disposessed without assent and 
compensation. Thus, that which 
at first was free, became the abso- 
lute property of the individaal or 
the State, and passed from one per- 
son to another, either by purchase 
and sale or by descent, in times of 
peace, although in war it was fre- 
quently taken by conquest. 

On the discovery of America by 
Columbus, 403 years ago, North 
America was in possession of the 
Indians, whom, it is supposed, were 
the Aboriginese. That part, includ- 
ing the present State of Pennsylva- 
nia, as far as west as the Allegheny 
Mountains, was held by the Six- 
Nations, or the Irquois, as the ear- 
lier discoverers called them. But 
the land was also claimed by Eng- 
land, by right of first exploration, 
and Pennsylvania was given by 
King Charles II. to William Penn, 
by a great charter or deed, in part 
payment of a debt which he owed to 
his father, Admiral Penn. The 

debt was ,£16,000 sterling, or about $80,000. This con- 
stituted the first sale of the site of Altoona that we 
have any record of. As the province of Pennsylvania 
contained 46,000 square miles, or 29,440,000 acres, Al- 
toona's 224 acres were but a small fraction of it (one 
one hundred and thirty-thousandth part), and brought 
only about 60 cents. William Penn did not consider 
that his charter conveyed the Indians' title or right of 
possession and, therefore, he purchased large tracts 
from them at various times, as the growing population 
of the colony demanded more land for settlement, and 
the frontiers were pushed farther and farther westward. 



The same policy was continued after his death, and, in 
1754, by a treaty at Albany, N. Y., with the chiefs of 
the Six Nations, the lands lying west of the Susque- 
hanna river, and between that and the Allegheny river, 
were purchased of the Indians for the sum of .£400, or 
$2,000. The Indians, however, were dissatisfied with 
the boundary lines of this purchase and, by another 
treaty, October 23, l7;8, the limits of the grant were pre- 
scribed more particularly and considerably curtailed so 
as to include only the lands lying between the Blue 
Ridge Mountains on the east, and the summit of the Al- 
leghenies qn the west. The price realized by the In- 




dians for the 224 acres was not over 10 or 15 cents. 
This gave the title to the heirs of Penn or the Com- 
monwealth, and it was granted by them to John Bayn- 
ton and Samuel Wharton, who obtained a warrant 
for 460 acres, including the site of Altoona. This war- 
rant is dated July 28, 1766. The partial title conveyed 
in this warrant was by them conveyed to others of whom 
we have no record until it vested in James Galbraith, 
who obtained a patent from the State, dated February 
16, 1802, thus perfecting his title. James Galbraith, at 
his death, devised it to his son, Patrick Galbraith, who 
afterward became involved in debt, and the land was 



sold from him by John Patton, the Sheriff of Hunting- 
don County, to David McMurtrie, November 13, 1809. 
David McMutrie and wife conveyed the land to Samuel 
Noble, by deed dated May 19, 1812. Samuel Noble 
held it until his death, when it descended to his children, 
of whom John Noble was one and the other heirs con- 
veyed their interests to him so that he became sole owner. 
The deeds to him are recorded in Huntingdon County, in 
Deed Book, "A," Vol. 2, pag-e 182, this having been partof 
Huntingdon County at that time. John Noble held the 
land until 1S40 when he sold it to David Robeson, by 
deed dated May 1, 1840. David Robeson held it until 
1849, when he sold it to Archibald Wright for $11,000, 
the deed being dated April 24, 1S49, and recorded in 
Blair County (Blair County having been formed in 1846), 
in Deed Book, Vol. "B," Page 441. The tract is de- 
scribed in this deed as follows: "A tract of land in Al- 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



147 



legheny Township, County of Blair and State of Penn- 
sylvania, to wit: Beginning at a post, near a small 
marked hickory, being the corner also of land late of 
William Orbison; thence north 41 degrees, east 130 
perches to a stone heap; south 46, 'i degrees, east 289 
perches to a hickory; south 41 degrees, west 131 perches 
to a stone heap; north 41J4 degrees, west 21 perches to 
a stone heap, and north 46>/ degrees, west 268 perches 
to the place of beginning, containing 223 acres and 125 
perches." Logan township was formed some years after 
this sale from a part of Allegheny Township. 

Any person owning ground in Altoona, between 
Fourth and Fourteenth Avenues, and between Eleventh 
and Sixteenth Streets, should be able to trace a chain of 
title, by deed, will or descent from an intestate, back to 
this tract, and Archibald Wriefht, owner. 



Lost Opportunities, 




T IS said that fortune knocks once at every 
man's door and the same may be true of com- 
munities. The history of Central Pennsylva- 
nia furnishes two illustrations of this in which Blair 
County towns have failed to grasp a great opportunity 
and thereby lost a golden harvest. 

On the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal west- 
ward from Huntingdon, Frankstown was the natural 
site for the great basin, being at the confluence of two 
branches of the Juniata where it could have been con- 
structed much cheaper and better than at Hollidaysburg, 
but the ground desired for it was held at too high a price 
and the Hollidaysburg location was chosen instead. As a 



result Hollidaysburg soon became a thriving town and 
Frankstown fell into decay. Later when the Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad Company wanted land for shops, etc., they 
tried to purchase it at or near Hollidaysburg, but the 
price asked was too great and they chose a new location 
away from any town, and laid out Altoona, which in 
five years outstripped Hollidaysburg, and now contains 
ten times as many people — Hollidaysburg not having 
grown much beyond her population at that time, while 
in the volume of business transacted she has fallen off 
more than one-half. 

It is sincerely to be hoped that Altoona, profiting by 
these examples, will avoid a similar fate. 






* i .:'- 



-: ; -:• 



,- ; -,; 

:-:-:- 






,v WHAT ALTOONA OFFERS, 



2£ 






„ iK it: ii: - 

Hi 



-;. J_ -i- _;- -;- . -i- , .]- o ^i 




LTOONA, through her Board of Trade, offers to the capitalist a wide and profitable 



field for investment; money will make money here if properly handled. There is a de- 
mand for a bank or banks with a million dollars capital. .". .'. .". , .\ 

To the manufacturer who has sufficient capital to erect and operate a good-sized plant Altoona 
will give a suitable site, with a railroad siding free; stipulating onby that it shall be permanent, and 
o-uarantee a rich return for the money invested. Plenty of cheap labor can be obtained, coal for 
fuel at $1.25 per ton on the track, sufficient water for all ordinary purposes, raw material convenient, 
and transportation of both raw material and manufactured product at reasonable rates. 

To the fake manufacturer who wants ground, buildings and capital donated, while he furnishes 
only cheek, she cannot offer so much, but, if he is able-bodied and willing to work, will guarantee 
him a steady job on the street repairs at SI. 50 per day and tools furnished. 



To the wealthy person seeking a place to establish a home, and live a life of ease and refine- 



ment on money previously accumulated, she offers one of the prettiest residence cities in the world; 
finest scenery, purest air, most healthful and delightful climate, good schools and churches, the best 
of associations, and all the advantages of the highest civilization. We are four hours from Pitts- 
burg, twenty from Chicago, eight from Philadelphia, ten from New York. 



To the mechanic, in nearly every line, she offers a most desirable location. Skilled labor is 
always in demand, the pay prompt and regular, and the industrious and frugal worker is sure of a 
good living and a home of his own, which may be obtained through our numerous building and loan 
associations for what is usually paid in rent. The best of public and parochial schools will be open 
to his children, the churches will welcome him among them, and, in the genial surroundings of 
Altoona, life may become "one grand, sweet song." 

No better proof of Altoona's attractions can be adduced than the fact that few people ever leave 
here, and of those who do the greater number return within a year fully convinced that it is the best 



city in the best State of this the best of all countries in the world. 



LOTS IN 

ALLEGHENY, 
MILLMONT, 



ADDITIONS TO THE 

City of Altoona, Pa. 



LOTS IN 

CAMP RIDGE, 
LAKEMONT, 



PARKHILL, ESTHTE OF ELIBS BHKER. Deceased. and 

NORTH LLYSWEN , Also Contiguous Lands in quantities to suit purchasers, for sale at low prices on easv terms. BLAIR, 



These PlotS ^ re exce P t ' onal b' wel1 located for pleasant and healthful suburban homes; generally 
___ == ____ == ___ upon high and dry ground — some of the lower parts not requiring- cellar drainage — with 
the Logan Valley Electric Railway, a Steam Railroad, and the most public roads to Altoona through or beside all. 
Pure mountain water from Mill Run under head up to 200 feet, main pipe now down, distribution to be made when 
spring- opens Gas and electricity to follow soon. 



ALLEGHENY adjoins Altoona on the South-western side, 
with Steam Railroad and two lines of the Electric Railwjy, and 
all public roads entering- on that side. 

MILLMONT is between the Hollidaysburg Branch Railroad 
and the Electric Ra : lway South of the Mill. 

PARKHILL adjoins Hollidaysburg Branch Railroad at 
Burket's Station, lays about Highland Park, witli the proposed 
Electric Railway running through it. 

NORTH LLYSWEN adjoins Llyswen on the North, on 
both sides of the Electric Railway, — between the Duncansville 
road and the Hollidaysburg turnpike. 



CAMP RIDGE has the heavy cut through it by the Electric 
Railway, with the steep grade upon its side — a particularly at- 
tractive localit}-. 

LAKEMONT covers the mountain side about Lakemont 
Park. The cheap lots, low railroad fares, publicity, pleasant and 
healthful location, makes it the place for the toiler, and the sum- 
mer home of the well-to-do. 

BLAIR is upon the Northern side of the city, with the Logan 
Valley Electric Railway through it, and main line of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad beside — opposite Blair Furnace. 



THE LANDS are convenient to the City, and specially adapted to truck raising. 



Maps of various parts on application. 



S. C. BAKER, 



Opposite Oeneral Supt's Office, P. R. R. 



1106 TWELFTH STREET, ALTOONA. 




Porter W. Shultzs 



ua/ior/nff SP/acOj 



1327 Cleventh j(ve. 



Jtlt 



oona. 



♦v *c *t^ *«• *C *C #C *V ,#C .*C *-C *-C **. 

COME HERE"™— GARMENTS CAREFULLY FITTED 

FOR YOUR AND GUARANTEED, 



Dress Suit* Overcoat or Pantaloons, 



■ U rfrf^d — tf " fr» M* *^«* r » 



See our Fancy Vesting, in Silk and Washable Goods. Have on hand 
large selection of fine materials to suit you. 



WELCOME 
ALL, 



Porter W. Shultz, 1327 Cleventh tfve. 




I_^. L. BOOK, 

Leading Gardner of Altoona. 

LETTUCE, BEETS and CUCUMBERS a Specialty. 
Fresh Vegetables always on hand. 

Greenhouses and Grounds, « ELDORADO. 



SS. J. BRETH, 

712 NINTH STREET, ALTOONA. 

F. M. GREENE, 

^pire : Insurance,^ 

Hltoona Bank Building, 
HUTOONB, PA. 



HARRISON OBURN, 

Fine Groceries, Flour, Feed and Meats. 

BREAD, CAKES and VEGETABLES, TOBACCO 
and CIGARS. 

Cor. CHESTNUT AVE. and ELEVENTH ST., - ALTOONA 

ZACH ENDRESS, 

DEALER IN ALL KINDS OF 

Home Slaughtered Meats. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



DUKE & ARTHUR, 

Livery, Feed and Sale STABLE, 

814 GREEN KVENUE. 

Cabs for Funerals and Weddings a Specialty. 

Telephone 814. 



j{ltoona Coal and Co/ce Co. 



^ ^ ^ SHIPPERS 



4<c ^k. <k. 






7A 




o 



Best Coal for Domestic Use. .". For Sale by all Dealers. 
ASK FOR DELANEY. TAKE NO OTHER. 



J. A. ROHRER, D. D. S. 

1107 TWELFTH AVENUE, - - - ALTOONA. PA. 

Gold Filling and Bridge Work a Specialty. 

Baird & Hoffman, 

CARPENTERS, CONTRACTORS, BUILDERS 

AND HODSK MOVERS. 

A Specialty of Porticos and Store Fronts. We have all the appliances neces- 
sary fur successful house moving'. 

Residence, - - 2000 TWENTIETH AVE. 

J^ c/_' , ^7^^^^*•5••{•"f••t••5•"$••5••^••S••5••S••!••S••S••$••S•'S••5••^ , l••S••$••5••^•S••5•"i■ 

Offers extra inducements to -purchasers of LOTS, 
for homes and otherwise, at FAIR CITY, the 
eastern terminus of the P. R. R. Yard. 



GEORGE A. BURTNER, 

DEALER IN 

Staple Groceries, Teas, Coffees, Etc. 

Country Produce a Specialty. Goods delivered free to any part of the city. 

1633 Eleventh Sve., Sltoona. 

JAMES M. BUNN, M. D. 
(Ibrcmc Specialist, 



Treats diseases by 



nethod. No charge for consultation. 



1421 Eleventh Avenue, ALTOONA, PA. 



CUNNINGHKM, BLSKE &■ CO., Limited, 



DISTRIBUTING AGENTS FOR 



150 



"Lakemont 



» PLUG 

TOBSCCO 






wmmmmM:i -i ■•imimwmm 



iLULaLJLia 



iL^L^L^JLULJiJ 



mmmmmi ' 



Wonderful Improvement inJMethods of Travel and Transportation, 






-' ' ~j— L^j^. . . ™_j ™^. j I J^A Lujili uGij ujljjJli 




NE reflects with amazement and awe on the 
wonderful advancement that has been made 
during this century, now drawing to a close, in 
the methods of travel and the transportation of freight. 
At its beginning a great wave of emigration took place 
from the Eastern States of Massachusetts and Connecti- 
cut to Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the journey 
was made in wagons and on foot over the rudest kind of 
roads, or through forests destitute of any road, the trip 
occupying two months' time. But these hardy pioneers, 
the most inventive and ingenious people in the world, 
soon felled the forests, cleared farms and set forces in 
motion which accomplished wonders in a miraculously 
short time In 1815 to 1820 pike roads were constructed 
to many large cities and towns in this part of the United 
States, two of which crossed the Allegheny Mountains, 
one through Blair County and the other, the great Cum- 
berland road, further southwest. The business of 
freight traffic over these roads in huge Conestoga 
wagons, as they were called, drawn by four to six horses, 
was large, and the transportation of passengers and the 
mails by stage coaches, reached a high degree of perfec- 
tion. Stages running night and day, with frequent 
changes of horses and drivers, made the trip between 
Philadelphia and Pittsburg in the brief space of three 
days, and if a passenger could have endured the contin- 
uous strain, he might have covered the distance in the 
same short time. 

The pike through Blair County was superseded as a 




D. K. Ramey, Chairman Board of Water Commissioners. 

highway for freight by the canal, constructed in 1S26 to 
1832, supplemented by the Portage Railroad across the 
mountains from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, completed 
in 1S33, and while the time of passage between the two 
great cities was not lessened by the new method it was 
a much more agreeable way to travel, and in summer 





T, H. Wiggins, Member Board of Water Commissioners. 



W, J. Heinsling, Member of Board of Water Commissioners. 



152 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. 



X 







Samuel A. Galley, Water Superintendent. 

time was patronized by through travelers to the neglect 
of the stage coach; but in winter, when the canal 
was closed by ice, the stage lines again held full sway. 
This was the situation until 1850, when the railroad, 
that triumph of modern science and mechanics over 
distance and ponderosity, was so far completed as to be 
available for the greater part of the distance, and two 
years later the iron rails extended in unbroken line be- 
tween Philadelphia and Pittsburg, becoming, of course, 
the great highway of travel. 

The reign of the pike was for less than twenty years, 
the canal barely that long, and the railroad has been 
supreme for a little more than forty years. 

Thus, during the lifetime of many men now living, 
has a great State been transformed from a comparative 
wilderness to a highly productive empire, and the mode 
of travel been improved and brought to its present condi- 
tion of perfection which, it would seem, cannot be much 
farther improved. 

These facts, while not history of Altoona, are pecu- 
liarly appropriate in this connection, for the reason that 
they are among the causes which brought her into being, 
and the leading industry of Altoona is the manufacture 
of cars and railroad equipment for the great Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad which passes through her, extending the 
entire length of the State, and reaching out to New 
York on the east and Chicago on the west. 

The Allegheny Portage Railroad, 

This was the creature of necessity, man's genius 
seeming always equal to the task of overcoming appa- 
rently insurmountable difficulties. A canal could not 
be constructed over the Allegheny Mountains; to tunnel 
them was impracticable, but a highway must be built, 



and engineering skill solved the problem by construct- 
ing the "Portage," between Hollidaysburg and Johns- 
town, to connect the two sections of the Pennsylvania 
Canal. It was undoubtedly the greatest engineering 
feat known to history at that time. The distance be- 
tween the two points was about 36 miles, and the highest 
altitude passed over was 1,399 feet above Hollidaysburg, 
and 1,172 feet above Johnstown. The road was begun 
in 1831 and completed in 1833, at a total cost of over 
$1,500,000. The rails used were imported from Eng- 
land, were very short, as compared with rails now used, 
and were laid on large, square rocks placed three feet 
apart' instead of wood ties as at present. These rocks 
did not extend the width of the track, and only one rail 
was attached to each, except where the rails joined. 
The plan of this road was to draw cars up an incline 
several hundred feet by means of a cable and stationary 
engine, haul them for some miles on the level by horse 
power and locomotive engines to the foot of another in- 
cline, up which they were drawn by another stationary 
engine, and so on to the summit, then descending in a 
similar reverse manner. 

The stationary engines were of 35 horse-power, two- 
at the head of each incline. Freight was at first trans- 
ferred from the boats to cars for transportation over the 
mountains, but later it was found practicable to build 
boats in sections, and take each section, on a car, across 
the mountains and then connect them again. This road 
was used until the completion of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road over the present line in 1854, soon after which 
(1857) the public works, including the canal and this 
road, were sold by the State to the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road Company, who, by the purchase, relieved the State 
of an unprofitable property, and at the same time dis- 
posed of a competing line. 




C. A. Martin, Secretary Board of Water Commissioners. 



J. M. WATSON, 



^ 



, and Fishing 
Tackle. 



DEALER IN 

GUNS, AMMUNITION, BfcVCleS 

BASE BALL C.OODS. Guns and Bicycles Repaired. 

1113 Eleventh Ave. - ALTOONA 



Best HATS. 

FU R S, SHIR'I-S . B nd . N ECK W E A F?, 

Eleventh Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 



MONEY TO BUY HOMES ****** 



a 



Interest and Life Insurance Combined less than Five and Onchalf per Cent. 



HEAPEST and only prudent way to buy a home on the installment plan. EASY PAYMENTS. (Not 
more than Rent.) In event of death PAYMENTS CEASE, mort£a£e is cancelled, and the home belonos 
to your family, free from encumbrance. Call for rates and information. 

AGENT FOR 

UNITED SECURITY LIFE INSURANCE 

AND TRUST CO. OF PA, 

•Capital, $1,000,000. Full paid. 

Also individual and trust funds to loan on 

flat mortg-ag-e. 



ANDREW FT. McCAMANT, 

Ctttorney=at=£atr>, 

-^^snsn=^Room 9, Scltenk Block, Altoona, Pa. 



Ft L WILSON, 

House, •:• Sign * and •:• Ornamental 

PdlNTINQ. 



PAPER HANGING NEATLY DONE. 

A Large Selection of Wall Paper Kept iu Stock, Prices Eight. 



Cor. EIGHTH AVENUE and NINTH STREET. 

ALTOONA, PENNA. 



flfftoona 3° 3 P (on)paog. 

E. BUECHELE, 

Manufacturer of and dealer in 

Neatsfoot Oil, Etc. 

Twentieth Ave, between Twenty-second and Twenty-third Sts. 

ALTOONA, PENNA. 



Chestnut Avenue Jfcotelj 



Cor, Chestnut Ave, and Eighth St, • 

GEORGE H- BROLUN, Proprietor*. 



ALTOONA, PA, 



The House has recently been Renovated and Fitted Throughout. 



ALEX. CLAYCOMB, 

-vDry v (Boobs, * (groceries,* 



BOOTS AND SHOES. 

1800 Tenth Avenue, 



ALTOONA. 



GUS. SIMON 



Is the leader of Altoona Shoe business, carrying a stock of 
$2o,oco, and you, can always find the latest styles in 



Footwear 



At his large establishment. Should you want any fine SHOES 
at low prices, call on him— 1400 ELEVENTH AVENUE. 



T. J. TROUT, 

Insurance and Steamship Agent, 

ALSO FORKIGN DRAFTS. 

Office — 1307 Eleventh Avenue. 



JE. I>. 3BOTVITVE ^ 

Photographer. 



Cabinet Photos $1.50 ^TL.^ 



Specially. 



ELEVENTH AVE. and FOUETEENTH ST, 

ALL KINDS OF 

Fresh and Salt MEATS, 

EIGHTH AVE. and NINTH ST. 



W. H. PIPER. JOHN H. LEWA8S. 

W. H. PIPER & CO. 
Sonman White Ash Bituminous Coal, 

MASONIC TEMPLE, ALTOONA, PA. 

Ganeral Office -411 and 413 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 

li. KHVIIVIELi, Jr. 

CHOICE TEAS and COFFEES, CANNED GOODS, Etc. 
Fresh Eggs and Choice Butter. 

************** THOHrU N. BdIRD, 

* BdTH TUPS * » 

I waiter | Plumber and Gas Fitter 

I CLOSETS % 

*»*..=«, * HOT WATER HEATING. 

f BOILER/ * 

^•.5.^.^.^.^.4.^.4.^.^.^.^.^. 1904 Eighth Avenue, - Altoona, Pa. 



G. A. PATTON, Preside 



J. U. BLOSE, Secretary 



H. R. EARLENBAUGH, Treasurer. 



Altoona Novelty Mfg. Co. 



TWENTIETH AVE. and ELEVENTH ST., 



ALTOONA, PENN'A. 



We are prepared to manufacture all kinds of Novelties in Wood, Brass, Steel or Metal 

of any kind.- 

!73lose Poller SRici/cle ffiraJce and the fflush Window SSlind f ixtures a Specialty . 

Correspondence Solicited and estimates on work free. 

ALTOONA NOVELTY MFG. CO. 






C. M. KEPHART, 

GROCERIES, PROVISIONS, FLOUR AND FEED, 

TOBACCO AND CIGARS. 

161; ELEVENTH AVENUE. Cor. Eleventh Ave. and Bridge St 



J±. J^. HE INCH, 

Hide Salter, *Z. « Hides, Tallow, Salt 



Cut Soles and Shoe Findings. 

170S NINTH AVENUE, - - ALTOONA. 



ICE CREAM SALT A SPECIALT. 



C. J 7 . Carpenter, 

Cigars and TJobacco, Milliards and Zrool 



J. A. Lafferty 

MEATS 



DEALER IN 

FRl-:SH:AND l\/rT7 A TC Bologna Sausage, 
SMOKED ML/A 1 J Lard, Etc. 

1310 TWELFTH STREET, ALTOOHA. 

JACOB OSWAiiD, . 
Blacksmith manufacturer,,, Wagons 

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, CARRIAGES and S_EDS 

HORSE SHOEING and Repairing of all kinds a specialty. 

Shop Nos. 1528-30 NINTH STREET, . ALTOONA. 

Mountain Cltu Hardware Co, 
HARDWARE, COOK STOVES, REATERS, RANGES, 

and Tinware. Roofing and Spouting a Specialty. 
10/4 Vuwlfth Street jrfltoonaj !Pa. 154 HARKY HUGHKSi MgT 906 EIGHTH AVEflOE. 



*?*?A?Xi 



•"4-t^-i-"^^ 



M 2£ Early Industries of Blair County, JSC 





ONG before the era of 

public improvements 

began, when the 
Country was new and but 
sparsely settled, the manufac- 
ture of iron engaged the atten- 
tion of some enterprising 
spirits, and as iron ore was 
found in considerable quanti- 
ties cropping out of the hills, 
and lying almost on the sur- 
face in other places in many 
parts of the Juniata Valley, 
crude furnaces were erected 
and the ore smelted by the 
use of charcoal for heat. The 
capacity of these furnaces was 
quite small — five to fifteen tons 
per week — and the iron was 
produced at a great outlay of 
labor, but the quality was ex- 
cellent. The market, however, 

strange as it may appear, was not found here. Some 
products of iron were, of course, used in the county, but 
it required rolling mills and machinery to reduce it to 
steel and merchantable form, and, in order to realize any 
money for the product of these furnaces, it was neces- 
sary to ship it to Pittsburg where there were facilities 
for reducing it to useful shapes and sizes. At this time, 
there were no railroads, nor even passable wagon 
roads until 1820, and it is said the Juniata Valley 




_A~ 




Kesidcnce of A, Grieson, 2624 Seventh Avenue, 



Wopsononock Resort Hotel, on the Summit of Wopsononock Mountain, Six Miles from Altoona. 
on the Altoona, Clearfield and Northern Railroad, 

iron was carried over the mountains on the backs of 
pack-horses and mules to Johnstown, and there loaded 
on flat-bottom boats or rafts and floated to Pittsburg, on 
the Conemaugh river to its junction with the Allegheny 
river at Freeport, and from thence down the latter 
stream. The boating of iron to Pittsburg was quite an 
important industry prior to the construction of the 
canal, but after it was built it took the traffic until the 
establishment of rolling mills at Johnstown by the Cam- 
bria Iron Company. The first small 
iron furnaces erected within the 
present limits of Blair County were 
as early as 1805 to 1812, but, begin- 
ning about 1830, larger ones were 
constructed, and some rude forges 
where, with a trip-hammer, the iron 
as it came from the furnace was 
worked into bars and billets by a 
slow and laborious process. Eliza- 
beth, or Sabbath Rest Furnace, 
about four miles east of Altoona, 
and Blair Furnace, two miles east, 
were built probably about 1830, and 
Baker's — "Allegheny" — in 1835-6 
by Elias Baker. There had, how- 
ever, been a small furnace erected 
here in 1811 by Robert Allison and 

Henderson, but it had been 

out of blast for fifteen years. 

The Elizabeth and Allegheny 
Furnaces were both large plants for 



56 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



the time and place, and were important factors in the 
development of this portion of the State. Now, how- 
ever, their fires have long since gone out, and only the 
picturesque ruins and the name remains to this genera- 
tion where a former one found busy life and industry at 
a time long anterior to the earliest beginning of 
Altoona. 



In this immediate vicinity, in 1840, the manufactur- 
ing industries comprised the three furnaces above men- 
tioned, and Mary Ann Forge, at Elizabeth Furnace, the 
grist and sawmill of George Pottsgrovc, the saw and. 
gristmill of Benjamin Crissman. on Mill Run, the small 
distillery of Michael Hileman, in Pleasant Valley, and 
the ax factory of Daniel Colclesser, at Eldorado. 




Rev, J. F. Hartman, Pastor Christ's Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, 



Rev, D. S, Monroe, D. D., Secretary General Conference Methodist Epis' 

copal Church, and Presiding Elder Altoona District 

Central Pennsylvania Conference. 







Rev. D, S. Lentz, Pastor Fourth Evangelical Lutheran Church. 



Rev, C, L, Benscoter, Pastor Walnut Avenue M, E. Church, 



&t":titi*J:LJ:.^.;:L ; :tiTJ-Ti~:: ■ ~' r • " ; ~ • " ; ; • " ; " ■ " ;_ > t ■ ~ ; " • ~ : ~ ■ ~ : " *• ''■' • " : " • " :_ ■ ~' r . ~ ; " ■ 



^^ 



WM New Industries and Coming Improvements, 



-!-•-:-' 



.t , + , " : ; , t : -'•; , <■ , -> , -'■- ; -j- , -}; , + ,■-!;'."!"■, t : - ; " , t , y , " ;_ , - ;_ , " ; - / f , " ; - , " : : , " ; : ,' y , 



*V-:- 



-:-,•:-,-:-;-;-,-:-,-;- ,-:-,-:-,-:-,-;-,-:-■;■-:-» -!- «-; 




.t,+^t^.h-i+,d-i+|f 




I^INCE the printing- of this book was begun one 
'<■ ■' new enterprise has been established, and there 
are indications of many more, some of which 
are assured. If Altoona never had a "boom" there is 
one coming- in 1896. The Altoona Novelty Works have 
been incorporated and have established a plant at Twen- 
tieth Avenue and Eleventh Street, where, in a fine, large 
building originally erected for a planing mill, they are 
putting in machinery for the manufacture of a new 
bicycle roller brake, the invention of Dr. J. U. Blose; a 
curtain fixture, invented bv another Altoona genius, also 
many other useful articles. They will be prepared to 
make all imaginable kinds of small machinery, and fix- 
tures and novelties in wood, brass, copper, steel and 
other metals. 

The Silk Manufacturing Company which now operates 
the Silk Mill here, as well as many other similar estab. 
lishments in the East, being the most extensive silk 
manufacturers in the United States, are contemplating 
the erection of another mammoth silk mill near the 
present one, as they say labor and other conditions here 
are more satisfactory than at any other place in which 
they operate. 

Two magnificent new hotels have already been com- 
menced, the Schmitt House, on Thirteenth Street, 
between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues, and the Cen- 
tral, at the corner of Eleventh Avenue and Eleventh 





James Foust, Coroner of Blair County. 

Street, on the site of the old one, recently destroyed by fire. 
One very large church will be erected during the year, 
on the corner of Fourteenth Street and Twelfth Avenue, 
and two others are contemplated at other points. 




W, F, Taylor — Altoona Electrical Engineering and Supply Co. 



Feamer Hoke, Assistant Postmaster, 



Mountain City Lodge No. 837 




I. O. O- F\ 

a; 

INSTITUTED APRIL 14, 1873. 

Meets every Tuesday evening at 7:30 o'clock, 

in the Odd Fellows' Hall, Twelfth Street 

below Eleventh Avenue. 

(POST OFFICE BUILDING.) 




W. J. Cornelius, 

Jfoble Srand. 



ALTOONA CASTLE No. 145. 

Knigfyts of % (Solben (£ao;le 

INSTITUTED NOVEMBER, 1886. PRESENT MEMBERSHIP 260. 
Meets every Thursday Evening- at 7:30 o'clock, in Stehle's Hall. 
D. H. TURNBAUGH, JNO. F. SAXON, 



Master of Re 



Noble Chief. 



G. C. ROBB, 

SURGEON DENTIST, 

ROOMS 214-215 MATEER BUILDING. 

ELEVENTH AVENUE, 

ALTOONA, PA. 



IN THIS PROGRESSIVE AGE IN 



DENTISTRY 

I have completed and have letters 
'■PATENT" of the United States, for a 
Rim Style of Teeth on the Upper Jaw, 
thus giving- the patient the palate taste 

of the mouth, and with one-third less weight, and holds firmer in the mouth 

than the old style of plates. Satisfaction guaranteed. 

P. J. MALONE, D. D. S., 1327 Twelfth Avenue. 




DENTISTRY. 



H. E. CRUMBAKER, D. D. S., 
All work pertaining- to the profession performed in a skillful 
OFFICE AND RESIDENCE, 
Cor. Seventh Avenue and Twelfth Street. Altoona, Pa. 



Jf. C. Xyttle, 

Secretary. 






Would You Give a Bond 



For the Protection of your family after your death, 
and have 23,000 Men to endorse it? 



ALTOONA CONCLAVE No. 132, 

Improved Order Heptasophs, 

Issues such a Bond conditioned only upon your payment of the 
small sum specified as called for in the article. It is a LIFE IN- 
SURANCE POLICY, supported by the pledge and faith of every 
member of the order. This Conclave has a membership of three 
hundred of the best men in this community, and is growing steadily as 
is the order at large. We have the lowest death rate, therefore the 
lowest cost for protection. Only ten and one-half assessments per 
year for the past nine years. 

**. X. *%■ **- 



X 



X X X X 



WOULiD YOU JOIN OS ? 



cer. Conclave 



Send your application with $5.00 to any 
meets on FIRST AND THIRD MONDAYS. 

W. M. WITHEROW, Financier- 

( TRIBUNE OFFICE ) 

C. A. GREER, Secretary. 

(times office) 



..,-■.. ■.,"■■../■'. P-Zp'-a^a^S^P'-a^-ZP^P 




-&>C£pC® .-C$3 



Our Rulers X Past, Present and Future, 





ROM the organization of Altoona as a Bor- 
ough, in 1854, to the date of her charter as 
a city, ten persons held the office of Bvr- 
2ss, viz : 

G. W. Patton, 1854 to 1S55. 

Thomas McCauley, 1856. 

James Lowther, 1857. 

En os M. Jones, 1858 and 1S59. 

W. C. McCormick, 1S60 and 1861. 

John Allison, 1862 and 1863. 

William Leonard, 1864 and 1865. 

John Baer, three months in 1S66. 

H. C. Dern, balancs of 1S66. 

Henry Fettinger, 1S67. 

From the date of incorporation as a city, in 1S68, to~ 
the present time there have been ten Mayors, including 
the present one, as follows : 

George Potts, two terms, 1868 to 1S72. 

David Kinch, one term, 1S72 to 1874. 

David A. Gilland, two terms, 1874 to 1878. 

Thomas Hurd, one term, 1878 to 1880. 




General James Potts, First Mayor of Altoona. 





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David Kinch. 
S. J. Breth, 



W^T. Howa-d. 
1 hos. Hurd. 



Theo. Burchfield. 
C. J. Mann, 



D. A. Gilland, 
E, H. Turner. 



160 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, 




H. C, Barr. Mayor-Elect. 

William T. Howard, two terms, 1880 to 1884. 
Charles' J. Mann, one term, 1884 to 1886. 
Samuel J. Breth, one term, 18S6 to 1888. 
Edmund H. Turner, one term, 1888 to 1890. 
Theodore Burchfield, one term, 1890 to 1S93. 
Samuel M. Hoyer, one term, 1893 to 1896. 
All the Mayors are now living-, except the first one, 
George Potts. 

BIOGRAPHICAL, 

General George Potts was born May 8th, 1806, in 
Butler County, Pa., and followed farming- for some 
years. In 1830 he was elected brigadier g-eneral of mil- 
itia. In 1840 he represented Butler County in the State 
Legislature, and in 1844 was appointed weighmaster at 
Hollidaysburg, by Canal Commissioner Hugh Martin. 
This position he held until the purchase of the public 
works by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, by whom 
he was retained, but transferred to Altoona. During 
the war of the Rebellion he was in the employ of the 
Government in the railroad service in the South. He 
was elected first Mayor of Altoona. and served two 
terms of two years each, from 1868 to 1872. He died in 
Altoona December 10th, 1872. 

David Kinch, the seGond Mayor of Altoona, was 
born in Porter Township, Huntingdon County, Pa., 
October 22d, 1833. He learned the trade of blacksmith- 
ing at Huntingdon Furnace, and ha 1 - worked at it all his 
life, excepting while holding the office of Mayor. He 
came to Altoona in 1867 and has resided here ever since. 
Has been in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
ever since his term of office expired 

David A. Gilland was born in Huntingdon County. 
He went to Hollidaysburg when a young man and 
learned the carpenter trade, which he has followed in 



connection with contracting and buiding all his life, 
except while serving the people in an official capacity, 
or as a soldier in the war. He served nine months in 
Company I, 137th Pennsylvania Volunteers, after which 
he went to Tennessee and served in the Government 
construction corps, building bridges. He came to 
Altoona in 1865, and has occupied a prominent place 
among her business men ever since. Was elected 
Mayor and served two terms, from March, 1874, to 
April, 1878. In 1879 he was elected to the State Legis- 
lature and served two years. 

Thomas Hurd was born at Salona, Clinton County, 
Pa., September 8th, 1824, and in youth learned the trade 
of shoemaking, at which he worked many years. He 
went to Holidaysburg in 1844 and remained there until 
1867 when he removed to Altoona. He served nine 
months in the army in Company A, 125th Pennsylvania 
Infantr}-. He was Mayor of Altoona one term, from 
1878 to 18S0, since which time he has been in the employ 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; has good health 
and works regularly although nearly 72 years of age. 

William T. Howard was born in Washington, D. C. 
May 7th, 1841, and came to Altoona in 1870. He learned 
the trade of painting in his youth and followed that un- 
til his election to the office of Mayor of Altoona, which 
position he held two terms, retiring in 1884. He served 
two years and one month during the war, in Cole's 1st 
Maryland Cavalry. Since his last term as Mayor he has 
held several important positions at Harrisburg during 
the sessions of the legislature. He is a prominent Re- 
publican politician and his influence is eagerly sought 
by all aspirants for office in that party. 

Judge Charles J. Mann was born November 20th, 
1823, in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., near Ogdensburg. 
He learned the trade of blacksmith, but did not work 
long at it on account of ill health. He came to Penn- 
sylvania in 1847, and clerked and kept store for a coal 
company in Luzerne County for several years. In 1857 
he came to Altoona and was engaged in the mercantile 
business until 1869. He was elected Associate Judge of 
Blair County in 1873, and held the office one term, five 
years; Mayor, one term, 1884-86; was engaged in the in- 
surance business for a number of years and is now Al- 
derman of the Fourth Ward, Altoona. 

Samuel J. Breth was born at Patchenville, Clear- 
field County, Pa., May 1st, 1839, and came with his 
parents to Holidaysburg in 1843, where he attended 
school for a short time. On the death of his father in 
1849 he was thrown on his own resources at the early age 
of ten years and his youth was spent in hard work on a 
farm and in the lumber districts, with an occasional 
short period at public school. Until the beginning of 
the war he worked at farming, wood chopping and log- 
ging in Blair and Clearfield Counties. On August 28th, 
1861, he was enrolled in Company G, 11th Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, in which regiment he served three years. 
He was wounded at Reams station on the Weldon Rail- 
road, Virginia, August 25th, 1864, and remained in the 
hospital till February 1st, 1865, when he was dischaged 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X 



161 



on account of disability and expiration of term of service. 
He came to Altoona in 1865 and was employed by the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, here and in Holida} T s- 
burg, as an engine hostler until 1881, when he went into 
the grocery business. He was elected Mayor in 1886 and 
held the office one term, at the expiration of which he 
"again started in the grocery business which he still con- 
tinues. He is largely interested in building and loan 
associations, holding stock in a number, as well as being 
a director in three. 

Edmund H. Turner was born in Williamsport, 
Washington County, Maryland, December 25th, 1821. 
He came to Pennsylvania in 1850 and to Altoona in 
1855. He learned the machinists' trade in his earlier 
years and has followed that the greater part ot his life. 
He was general car inspector for the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road Company before his election to the office of Mayor, 
and has been in their employ since his term expired. He 




T. D. Hughes, Ex'Sheriff of Blair County. 

was elected in 1888 and served one term of two years to 
1S90. 

Col. Theodore Burchfield was born in Juniata 
County, July 21st, 1840, and came to Altoona in 1865. 
He learned the art of printing in the city of Harrisburg, 
and was engaged in that business until his election to 
the office ot" Mayor in 1890. He served in the army 
fourteen months, in the 126th and 196th Pennsylvania 
Volunteers. He was a member of the State Legislature 
from Blair County two terms, from 1881 to 1884. He is 
at present Colonel of the Fifth Reginent, National 
Guards of Pennsylvania, which office he has held since 
187S. 

Samuel M. Hoyer, the present Mayor, whose term 
expires in April, 1896, was born in Cambria County, Pa., 
March 13th, 1856. Was superintendent of a coal mine 
in Cambria Countj'. Came to Altoona August 1st, 1880, 




F. A, Winter, Music Dealer, 

and engaged in business — coal and builders' supplies — 
in which he has continued ever since. 

Henry C. Barr, Mayor-elect, was born in Gaysport, 
Blair County, March 16th, 1853, and received his early 
education in the public schools of Hollidaysburg. He 
came to Altoona in 1869 and entered the employ of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad the following year in the black- 
smith shop, under instructions, and has continued at the 
same occupation ever since. He was a member of Com- 
mon Council in 1888 and 1889 from the Fourth Ward. 
He was elected Mayor of Altoona February 18th, 1896, 
and will assume the duties of the office April, 6th 
proximo. 




J. C, Hughes, General Merchandise 






HOUSK REMOE 



\TED IIV HO 



ELECTRICITY. 



Jrfotel c£a J*ai/8tte, 

902-4 Eighth Avenue, - - ALTOONA. 

C. D. EEEGLE, Proprietor. 

-<^sw°— RATES, $1.00 TO $1.50 PER DAY. 



E. E. C. BLACKBURN, D. D. S. f 



; Henfisfrg 



In all its branches. DENTAL PARLORS AND LABORATORY, 
1316'4 ELiEVEfJTH AVENUE. (2nd piootr.) 



PHOENIX TEL. 42. 



BELL TEL. 517. 



W. L. PENNOCK, 

Coal, Wood, Sand, hime, Cement, 



BUILDING STONE, TERRA COTTA PIPE, CRUSHED LIMESTONE. 
im> MAIN OFFICE AND YARD, 806 FOURTH STREET. «fc» 

PAVING BRICK a Specialty. Branch Office, Cor. Twelfth St. and Twelfth Ave, 



UJillx arp- da Loot, 

Groceries aiaa Prov^s^ons 

CASH ORDERS ALWAYS APPRECIATED. 

■feor. j-ifieerx-bH CLver\,u,e o.T~od cFKi-rteeT-iin, Street 

G. M. STEWART, 
Practical Plumber and Gas Fitter- 

Established in 1859. The first in the business in Altoona. 

1110>i Eleventh Ave. - ALTOONA 



F.J. KIGEL. E. MiEDER. 

F. J. RIGELt 8t CO., 

HARDWARE, STOVES, TINWARE, 

Roofing- and Spouting- a Specialty. 

Fourth Ave. and William St., JUNIATA, PA. 

EIFPLG POST OFFICE, 



H. E. Houek & Co. 



Cash Originators. 

Best : Line : of : GROCERIES : in : the : City 
FOURTH STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE. 






Turn Page by Page 



~\, 



^c 



a: 



x 



BEST WORK. 
LOWEST PRICE. 
PROMPT DELIVERY 



Examine each Picture, mark the Best, and remember they were made by J3C A) 

Jroivaratj 

{Portrait and jCandscape {Photographer. 



ANY AND EVERY- 
THING 
PHOTOGRAPHED. 



Work Done an.ywl-.ere in the state by HOWARD, Eighth Ave. and Twelfth St., Altoona, Pa. 



S. H. CQLESTOCK, 

^Contractor and Builder* 

And Manager for the Blair County Roofing- Company. Fire Proof 

Felting- for Roofing-. Excelsior Slate Paint for Shingle Roofs. 

Ebonite Varnish for Tin and Iron Roofs. 

OI_^D L,Ei.A.I>CY roofs repaired, 

OFFICE: 121 Fifth Avenue, JUNISTS. P. O. Address, KIPPLE, PA. 



E. L. WEIL. 



WEIL, St SONS, 

flkers flf i{igh Grade (igars. 



162 



BOOTH & BHRRETT, 



CUESTERN GEflTLlEmEr!, 



ROYHU SWEEPERS, 
THE 1492 CIGHR. 



TD. G. McCULLOUGH, 

Fancy Groceries, 



Hie TWELFTH STREET, 



H. P. DAVIS & CO., 

We are the oldest established store on Broad Street and in Millville. 
We have good service. Goods delivered free. 
Good (roods aud prices accordingly. 

No. 2922 BROSD ST. 

WE SELL THE.... 

Wheeler & Wilson 
Sewing Machine. 




W, H, STEFFY, 
^FflfiCY G^OCE^IES.* 

Country Produce, Tobacco and Cigars. 

Cor. Union and Eleventh Aves., « Altoona. 

JAMES DOWNING, JR., 

ODERLESS EXCAVATING, 



Scavenging 



Work promptly done and done right. Satisfaction guaranteed. 
Prices reasonable. 



RESIDENCE, 



1322 Fourteenth Ave. 



Will 9/f. 9?? ay, 



Ofnamantal Sign, S?ene, SePoll % ppeseo 

GOLD SIGNS. PclintSt 7 . . GLASS SIGNS. 



SELL TEL. 1473. 



JEST IX THE MARKET. 
Give us a call. 



Mountain City Lumber Co. 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

-Pioe, 9 Oak • and • f[en)Iock • kin)ber 



SHINGLES, LATH, PICKETS, FLOORING, SIDING, Etc. Oak, Pine and Hemlock Bill Stuff a Specialty 

JffiMES FLYNN, Manager, 



Office, 1301 % Eleventh Ave., (Second Floor) 

P. O. DRAWER 339. 



ALTOONA, PA. 



R. A. HAMILTON, 

Contractor £ Builder. 



ESTIMATES OX WORK CHEERFULLY FURNISHED. 



Quality of Material and Workmanship Guaranteed. 
PRICES REASONABLE. 



R. S. HSMILTON, 

Residence, 405 Howard Ave. - = ALTOONA. 

JAKES QdRDNER, 
tj^ General Contractor. ]y^ 



RAILROAD AND SEWER CONSTRUCTION. 



M. A. KEOUGH, 

Groceries, Provisions, Notions 



WOOD AND WILLOW WARE. 



1310 THIRTEENTH STREET, 



ALTOONA. 



HIS BOOK WAS BOUND BY X 
CHAS. T. MAGUIRE & CO. 

Altoona i Book i Bindery, 

ROOm 4, STEHtiH BliOCI^, 



All Work Done in a Satisfactory Manner and at 
.:. Lowest Prices. .:. 



1312 Eighteenth Street, 



Altoona. 163 ^ * ESTIMATES CHEERFULLY GIVEN. # * 



164 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



X HOME SEEKER'S PRIMER, X 



LESSON HRST. 



Do you see that picture ? 

It is a view of Westmont. 

Westuiont is a suburb of Altoona. 

Don't you think those are neat and comforta- 
able houses ? Would you like to own one of 
them ? 

You can do so as easily as paying rent. They 
are sold on monthly instalments. 



ous building and loan associations of Altoona, 
and you can pay off the loan for what you would 
pay in rent, and thus, in a few years, have a 
home of your own. 

This picture represents the view obtained 
looking away from Altoona toward Hollidays- 
burg. If you stood where the artist did, and 
should look in the opposite direction, you would 




View of Westmont, Looking Southeast From Main Line 

The street cars run from the business centre 
of Altoona to within five mintites walk of West- 
mont every 15 minutes, and the fare is only 5 
cents. 

After the completion of the Broad street ex- 
tension to the Park and Hollidaysburg this 
Spring there will be a 7^-minute schedule. 

Westmont has pure air, excellent water and is 
a pleasant place to live. 

Lots can be bought here very low — $300 to 
$600 — on easy monthly payments. 

A house may be built on a lot and the money 
to pay for it borrowed from one of the numer- 



of Pennsylvania Railroad. (Beezer Bros., Architects). 

see that Altoona and Westmont are very close 
together. 

If you would like to know more about West- 
mont, go and see F. H. Flick, the lawyer. His 
office is in the Mateer Building, on Eleventh Ave- 
nue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. 

Mr. Flick is the founder of Westmont, and 
owns a great many lots there. 

He will be glad to tell you all about the place, 
and to sell )^ou a lot, or a house and lot, on such 
easy terms that you can buy. Whether you buy 
or not, Mr. Flick will be glad to see you and talk 
with you about Westmont. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



165 




Westmont's Water Supply, (Beezer Bros., Architects), 




rjH 




Residence of Thomas M, Gift, cor, Eleventh Street and Fifth Avenue, (Beezer Bros,, Architects), 



166 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTCONA. X X 




Residence of W. L. Nicholson, West Chestnut Avenue near Twentieth Street. 




Residence of A. J. Anderson, corner Thirteenth Street and Sixteenth Avenue. 



*■*- -&<L 



ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



167 





Samuel L. McCarthy, M. D. 



Amos O. Taylor, M, D, 





William D, Hall, M, D, 



Residence of W. G, Anderson, Thirteenth Avenue, between Eleventh 
and Twelfth Streets. (Beezer Bros, Architects). 



168 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 




Eesidenee of George Rudisill, Twelfth Avenu.3, bet. Eleventh 
and Twelfth Streets. Beezer Bros., Architects). 



Soldiers' Monument, Pah-view Cemetery, Erected in 1867. 




Residence of W. H. Markland, Broad Avenue near Twenty-second Street. 
Robinson & Crockett, Architects). 



X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA, X X 



169 




Brant House, cor. Tenth. Avenue and Twelfth Street. John Sehenk, Prop. 




St. John's Roman Catholic Church and Convent, from corner Thirteenth 
Avenue and Thirteenth Street. 



Altoona 

Brewing 

Co... 



*i> 



WILHELM & SCHIIMMINGER, Prop's. 



Best Quality of.... 

Lager Beer. 



THIRTEENTH STREET AND FIFTEENTH AVENUE, 

ALTOONA, PA. 



E. H. FLICK. 



S. A. McNEAL. 



FLICK & McNEAL, 
Ctttorrteys=at=£att>, 

MATEER BUILDING, 

Eleventh Ave. between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Sts. 



Fourth Floor— TAKE ELEVATOR. 



n. j. coi 



Clothier I gents' furnisher 

TRUNKS AND VALISES, 
SUITS, SHIRTS AND HATS. 

MADE TO ORDER. 



J. B. RAYMOND, 



AhDERMAN, 



SEVENTH WARD. 



SPECIAL ATTENTION" TO COLLECTION" OP ACCOUNTS. 



1312 Fourth Street. 



^rce *J ress. 



J'rco Schoois 



Snciependent 



mencario 



\ THE GREAT A. P. A. PAPER. \ 



SI. 50 PER YE IK. 15 CENTS TER WONT H 

SEND P-~OF« SA. M P=T, JS. 



ADDRESS, 



HLTOONa, PS 



ANYTHING YOU WANT IN FURNITURE. 




NEW MATEER BUILDING, 

1412 Eleventh Ave., ALTOONA. 17«» 



LUe Ltead in this Summer's JSieeessity. 

BABY COACHES IN SEASON. 



W. S. AARON, 



HRCHDE BLOCK. 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



171 





Residence of M. MeCann, Seventeenth St. near Twelfth Ave. 




Woodcock Building, Eleventh Avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. 
William L. Woodcock. Owner. 



a; POINT VIEW, a: 






1 




OINT VIEW is locatedon the Juniata River, ten miles east of Hollidaysburg and eighteen 
miles by rail from Altoona. The location is charming and picturesque, being a miniature 
valley, drained by a babbling brook, hemmed in by four towering mountain peaks, dotted with 
numerous springs of pure, soft water, shaded by forest trees of mature growth, and washed by the 
winding river, which at this point and for a distance of three miles is both wide and deep. 

Ruins of an old circular stone furnace and of other stone buildings stand as landmarks of a past 
generation, and silently inspire the thoughtful with admiration for their builders, those early pion- 
eers in the great iron industry. 

Not far from here ran the old Kittanning trail, followed in peace and war by the Indians. 
Right through these grounds is seen the grade of the old State Road, abandoned in 1819. Border- 
ing the grounds on the North runs the old turnpike, once the main highway of the state between 
Philadelphia and Pittsburg, while on the Southern boundary we have the "Three Mile Dam," which 
formed part of the Juniata Canal, built by the state, and which superseded the turnpike as the 
the main artery of commerce, it having been part of the Portage system of canals and railroads. 

The Point View Cottage Association own this land and have erected summer cottages, which 
are rented by the week or month. For further particulars address T. H. WlGG-INS, President, 
Altoona, Pa., or P. W. Snyder, General Manager, Hollidaysburg, Pa. 



Additions and Corrections, 

During- the printing - of the book the following errors or omissions occured: 

Mileage of the Electric Passenger Railways on page 25 should read, 
miles within city (i. e. ) between the powerhouse and Juniata thirteen; 
Juniata to Bellwood five; power house to Gaysport, including double track, 
seven. Total, twenty-five. 

On page 35 S. B. Council should read, Foreman only instead of General 
Foreman. 

Mr. Seeley of the Pennsylvania Ice Co. on page 126, initials should read, 
F. H. instead of F. M. 

Beezer Brothers were architects of the Mateer Building shown on page 
96, and of W. L. Nicholson's residence on page 166. and M. McCann's on 
page 171, and John T. Fluke's on page 92. 

The new officers of the Edison Electric Illuminating' Co. for 1896, are: 
W. R. Dunham, President; A. J. Anderson, Secretary and Business Manager; 
Henry Crider, Treasurer ; E. B. Greene, Superintendent and Electrician; 
W. R. Dunham, Joseph Nixon, John Lloyd, S. H. Smith and A. J. Anderson, 
Directors. The office of Secretary, after April 1st, will be in the Scheuk 
Building, 1109 Fourteenth Street. 

Mayor Potts on page 159, should be George instead of James. 

In Lawyer Hammond's card on page 63, the middle initial should be S. 
instead of L. 



Re] 

Ma 

W. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Aldermen 115 

Allegheny Portage 132 

Altoona Bar 139 

Altoona Foundry and Machine Co 36 

Altoona Iron Company 36 

Altoona Surroundings, etc. 142 

Amusements 129 

Assessed Valuation Id 

Banks 48 

Blair County in the Path of Empire 14.5 

Board of Health 123 

Board of Trade 1 25 

Breweries 39 

Brickyards 28 

Building' and Loan Associations 49 

Car Shops Pennsylvania Railroad Co. ... 32 

Chain of Title of Robeson Farm 146 

Cemeteries 91 

Churches " 80 

City Directories 60 

City Government 113 

City Water System 41 

Climate, Water, Soil and Productions. . . .143 

Commercial and Mercantile 37 

Chapter of Dates and Firsts 16 



Distances and Fares from Altoona 138 

Electric Light Plants 50 

Evolution of a Great Business 108 

Facts Aliouc Altoona 137 

Fire Department 117 

Fire Signals 118 

Flour and Feed Mills 39 

Gas Works 40 

History of Altoona 11 

Ice Plant 37 

Improvement in Methods of Travel, etc. . 151 

Large Blocks and Business Houses 44 

Library (The Mechanics') 77 

Location and Description 5 

Lodges and Fraternal Societies 134 

Logan Valley Electric Railway 25 

Lost ( )pp n'tunilies 147 

Machine Shops P. R. R 31 

Manufacturing Interests, Summary of. . . 27 

Manufactures Described 29 

Map of Altoona 3 

Material Resources and Businessof Alt'a. 27 
Meeting Nights and Places of B. & L. A's. 55 

Mercantile Summary 28 

Ministerial Association 90 



Nearby Towns and More Distant Points. . 9 

Newspapers 57 

Officers of the P. R. R. Co 35 

Original Street names 20 

Pennsylvania Ice Company, Ltd 37 

PeunsylvHuia Railroad 23 

Planing Mills 39 

Point View 172 

Population 15 

Portage Railroad 152 

Post office.. 120 

Schools 75 

Sewers of Altoona 64 

Sewers, Cost and Length 68 

Silk Mill 37 

Social Life in Altoona 128 

Street Paving 61 

Street Railwavs 24 

Suburbs and Surroundings 7 

Transportation Facilities 23 

Water Works 41 

Western Union Telegraph 112 

Westmont 164 

What Altoona Offers 148 

Young Men's Christian Association 89 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Altoona from Gospel Hill 3 

Altoona Brewery 130 

Blair County Almshouse 90 

Brant House 169 

Broad Avenue Presbvterian Church 123 

Cold Storage Building of Geo. Beck 94 

Edison Illuminating Co.'s New Plant 94 

Eleventh Ave. from Eleventh St. West . . 17 
Eleventh Ave. from Fourteenth St. East. 21 

Erecting Shop, Locomotive Works 51 

Fav, Hutchison & Co.'s New Building 97 

Fidelity Bank 48 

First Ward Residence 145 

Fourth Lutheran Church 88 

Fourth Ward School House 13 

Franklin Hotel 82 

Freight Shop at Car Shops 53 

Gable & Co., Store Views 108 

Gas Company's Buildings 64 

General Superintendent's Office and Res. 32 

Globe Hotel Ill 

High School Building 77 

Hospital 121 

Interior of Gas Works 65 

Juniata Club House 138 

Juniata Shops P. R. R 33 

Krupp Gun in Altoona 171 

Lakemont and Ll.yswen 1 



Lathe Shop P. R. R. Machine Shops 61 

Locomotive and Turn Table 29 

Masonic Temple 92 

Mateer Building 96 

Memorial Chapel, Fairview 86 

McCullough Building 97 

Nicholson Building 98 

Pennsylvania Ice Company Plant 87 

P. R. R. Paint Shop ." 41 

P. R. R. Yard from 7th St. Bridge East. . 19 
P. R. R. Yard from 9th St. Bridge West.. 24 

Point View and Cottages 95 

Review of Union Army at Close of War. . 72 

Rising Sun Hotel 30 

Residence of A. J. Anderson 166 

Residence of W. G. Anderson 167 

Residence of M. J. Beezer 92 

Residence of B. M. Bunker 96 

Residence of Mrs. S. E. Bums 84 

Residence of F. P. Confer 85 

Residence of John S. Elway 98 

Residence of E. H. Flick 131 

Residence cf John T. Fluke 93 

Residence of James Flynn 131 

Residence of P. W. Finn 134 

Residence of Wm. F. Gable 145 

Residence of S. A. Gailey 93 

Residence of Thomas M. Gift 165 



Residence of A. Grieson 155 

Residence of D. Koch 95 

Residence of W. H. Markland 168 

Residence of M. McCann 171 

Residence of Dr. S. L. McCarthy 9 

Residence of W. L. Nicholson 166 

Residence of Joseph Nixon 131 

Residence of D. F. O'Rorke 69 

Residence of C. M. Robinson 128 

Residence of George Rudisill 168 

Scene from Seventeenth Street Bridge... 6 

Schenk Block 139 

School House, Fifth Ward 76 

Silk Mill 79 

Soldiers' Monument 168 

Station Meters at Gas Works 66 

Steam Hammer in Machine Shop 44 

St. John's Church and Convent 169 

Store of W. H. Kelley & Co 129 

Tribune Building 22 

Woodcock Building 171 

Washington Hotel 137 

Westmont 164 

Western Union Telegraph Office 112 

Wheel Platform at Car Shops, 43 

Wheel Shop at Machine Shops 59 

Wopsononock Observatory 135 

Wopsonock Hotel 155 



PORTRAITS. 



A. J. Anderson 125 

H. C. Barr 160 

Rev. J. W. Bain 87 

C. D. Beegle 135 

Rev. C. L. Benscoter 156 

George B. Bowers 115 

C. B. Clark 133 

W. M. C. Craine 115 

J. L. Calvert 127 

A. V Dively 134 

H. E. Ferguson 114 

James Foust 157 

George M. Gesser 124 

S. M. Griffith 126 

Thomas H. Greevy 134 

S. A. Gailey 152 

Dr. W. D. Hall 167 

George Harpham 114 

Rev. J. F. Hartman 156 

Reamer Hoke 157 

Mayor S. M. Hoyer 113 

W. J. Heinsling 151 



J. C. Hughes 161 

T. D. Hughes 161 

Hon. J. D, Hicks 133 

C. F. Korb 110 

Andrew Kipple 118 

A. M. Krick 124 

W. H. Kelley 124 

R. A. O. Kerr 127 

Lawyers of Altoona 132 

Rev. D. S. Lentz 156 

J. P. Levan 141 

E. March 93 

Dr. S. L. McCarthy 167 

Thomas McKiernan 141 

R. E. Marshall 142 

C. A. Martin 152 

Archie Maxwell 118 

Ministerial Association 91 

Rev. D. S. Monroe, D. D 156 

William W. Murray, Jr 125 

Colonel D. J. Neff 134 , 



Hon. J. K. Patterson 133 

General James Potts 159 

D. K. Ramev 151 

C. M. Robinson 127 

Rev. Lewis Robb 83 

F. M. Seely 121 

F. L. Sheppard 141 

G. W. Strattan 141 

Dr. Amos O. Taylor 167 

W. F. Taylor 157 

T. J. Trout 139 

Teachers of Public Schools 75 

Bishop Tuigg 81 

J. N. Tillard 117 

T. H. Wiggins 151 

F. A. Winter 161 

J. M. Wallis 142 

J. B. Wesley 128 

H. P. Wilson 120 

W. L. Woodcock 133 

Ex-Mayors of Altoona 159 



LIST OF ADVERTISERS-CLASIFIED 



ACCORDING TO BUSINESS. 



These business men and firms, by their liberal support of this book, made its publication possible, 
and are deserving of the patronage of all citizens, present and prospective, in preference to others in 
the same lines who did not advertize. 



ALDERMEN. 

Patro 

John O'Toole 30 

J. B. Raymond 170 

ARCHITECTS. 

Beezer Bros. (See illustrations) 

Robinson & Crockett, (See illustrations). . 

ATTORNEYS. 

Edwin M. Amies 63 

W. H. Bridenbaugh 63 

Charles B. Clark 46 

Cover & Davis 107 

Craier & Bowers 107 

A. V. Dively 107 

John A. Doyle 63 

Andrew S. Fisher 63 

Flick &McNeal 170 

D. Clare Good 63 

H. Price Graffius 107 

Greevy & Walters 107 

William S. Hammond 63 

Thomas C. Hare 63 

Robert A. Henderson 63 

J. Banks Kurtz 63 

Leisenring & Atkinson 107 

William B. Manley 63 

A. H. McCamant 153 

F. M. McCullough 63 

McNeil, Heinsling & Madden 63 

Morrow & Culp 63 

Neff, Hicks & Geesey 12 

John K. Patterson. ... 63 

Edmund Shaw 107 

H. G. Stover 63 

W. Frank Vaughn 63 

William L. Woodcock 107 

BAKERY. 

A. F. Heess Steam Bakery 119 

BANKS. 

Altooua Bank 70 

Fidelity Bank 8 

First National Bank 110 

Second National Bank 140 

BARBERS. 

Charles H. Nesbit (cupping and leeching) 78 
J. E. Shute .' . 34 

BOOK BINDERY. 

C. T. McGuire & Co 163 

BOOKS, STATIONERY AND WALL 
PAPER. 

John H. Hurd & Co 70 

Lyon 78 

T. C. McCartney 110 

BREWERIES. 

Altoona Brewing Co 170 

Mountain City Brewery 12 

BUILDING LOTS AND SUBURBAN 
HOMES. 

Altoona Suburban Home Co 1 

S. C. Baker 149 

L. L. Fair ISO 

E. H. Flick 164 



CIGARS AND TOBACCO. 

Patre 

C. F. Carpenter (retail) 154 

Cunningham, Blake & Co. (wholesale). . . .150 

D. T. Kantner (retail) 12 

George A. McKeurick (retail) 30 

Siers Cigar Mfg. Co. (mfrs.) 50 

Weil & Sons (mfrs.) 162 

CLOTHING AND GENTS' FURNISH- 
ING GOODS. 

H. J. Cornman 170 

Keystone Clothing Co 18 

Samuel M.irch 78 

Temple Clothing Co 34 

W. C. Westfall 153 

CONFECTIONS, Wholesale. 

A. M. Krick Ill 

W. S. McKeau Ill 

Waldow & Co 140 

Thomas Weir 140 

COAL DEALERS. 

Altoona Coal & Coke Co. (wholesale) 150 

M. B. McGrath 8 

W. L. Pennock 162 

W. H. Piper & Co. (wholesale) 154 

H. C. Tu-.-ey 140 

CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS. 

Altoona Planing Mill Company 50 

Baird & Hoffman " 150 

Frank Brandt 34 

Adam Bucher 12 

Bunker & Fleck 8 

S. H. Colestock 162 

Enterprise Planing Mill Co 119 

R.A.Hamilton 163 

Orr, Blake & Co 30 

Parker Bros 136 

Win. Stoke 70 

James Gardner (sewers, etc.) 163 

DENTISTS. 

E. R. C. Blackburn 162 

H. E. Crurabaker 158 

J. W. Lenberg 50 

I'. J. Malone 158 

W. R. Miller 38 

G. C. Robb 158 

J. A. Rohrer 150 

DEPARTMENT STORE. 

Wm. F. Gable & Co 2 and 108 

DRUGGISTS. 

W. M. C. Craine 18 

W. H. Irwin 46 

J. Ross Mateer 50 

C. F. Randolph 140 

C. S. Taylor 34 

DRY GOODS. 

Gable & Co 2 and 108 

F. Hester 46 

W. A. Lander 50 

Wm. Murray's Sons & Co. . . ." 70 

ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES. 

Altoona Electrical Engineering and Sup- 
ply Company 136 



FISH AND OYSTER MARKET. 



Chas. M. Rockey 78 

FLORIST. 

A. A. Whitbred 38 

FLOUR AND FEED 

G.V.Gardner 136 

H. H. Langdon 110 

FRUITS AND CONFECTIONS. 

De Barber Bros 8 



FURNITURE. 

W. S. Aaron 170 

H. R. Earlenbaugh ' 8 

Standard Furniture Co 34 

Harry Wayne & Co 136 

GARDEN VEGETABLES. 

L. L. Book ISO 

GENERAL MERCHANDISE. 

S. J. Breth ISO 

Alex. Clav comb 153 

H. P. Davis & Co 163 

H. R. Earlenbaugh 8 

J. S. Elway 110 

J. B. Glunt 78 

G. A. Glunt 12 

T. D. Hughes Ill 

R. B. Hutchison & Co 136 

B. F. Lang 12 

G. H. Nugent 34 

Pheasant & Wagner 119 

F. J. Seidel 34 

Sam'l Shuff 46 

J. R. Swartz 30 

Wm. Talbot 162 

S. J. Warner 136 

C. H. Yon 46 

CHINA, GLASS AND QUEENSWARE. 

A. K. Lackey & Co 18 

GROCERIES, Wholesale. 

Curry, Canan & Co 

Fay, Hutchison & Co 

GROCERIES, Retail. 

B. Berkowitz 38 

Gen. A. Burtner 150 

Jame-, D. Fay 8 

D. Fer«uson'& Son 18 

Giles Bros 136 

H. E. Houck & Co , 162 

C M. Kephnrt 154 

M. A. K ough 163 

L. Kimmel, Jr 154 

D. G. McCullough 163 

C. E McEldowney & Co 18 

A. L. McKean 50 

C.W.Moore 119 

W. E. Mulhollen & Co 46 

K. Oburu 150 

W. H. Steff v 163 

J. E. Wallace 18 

GUNS, BICYCLES AND SPORTING 
GOODS. 

Geo. F. Fresh 78 

J. M. Watson 153 



. 38 
.110 



X X ILLUSTRATED ALTOONA. X X 



175 



HIDE SALTEE. 

Pajre 
A. L. Hench 154 

HARDWARE, STOVES, ETC. 

Altoona Hardware Supply Co 119 

J. P. Degenhardt 18 

A. A. Johnson 8 

Mountain City Hardware Co 154 

F. J. Rig-el & Co 162 

C. E. Wolf Hardware Co ....110 

HOSIERY, NOTIONS, Wholesale. 

H. Slutzker 136 

HOTELS. 

Brant House, John Schenk 136 

Chestnut Ave Hotel, G. H. Brown 153 

Eighth Ward, G. B. McMahan 38 

Globe Hotel, D. T. Cahill Ill 

Hotel LaFavette. C. D. Beegle 162 

Hotel Franklin, F. P. Molloy 82 

Rising Sun, P. McCann 30 

Schmilt House, E. Thieuie 140 

St. Lawrence Hotel, Thomas Heaton 119 

Washington Hotel M. G. Trout 140 

West End Hotel, J. R. Eustace 50 

White Hall'Hotel, W. J. McFeeley 78 

HOUSE FURNISHING GOODS. 

A. S. Eby 8 

H. Wayne & Co 136 

ICE MANUFACTURER & DEALER. 

Pennsylvania Ice Co Ill 

ICE CREAM MANUFACTURERS. 

A. M. Krick Ill 

R. S. Westbrook 50 

INSURANCE AGENTS. 

Forney & Gossard 110 

John Cliugerman 78 

G. M.Greene 150 

H. B. Huff 70 

M. R. Keesey 18 

T. J. Trout 154 

Winn A Nicholson 34 

JEWELERS. 

Rudisill Bros 30 

W. H. Kelly & Co 124 

JUNK AND SECOND HAND STORE. 

Hiram Naeffer 136 

LAUNDRIES. 

A. M. Cowen 70 

Harry Otto 34 

LIGHT AND HEAT. 

Altoona Gas Co 40 

Edison Electric Illuminating Co 40 

LIME, SAND & BUILDERS SUPPLIES 

J. A. Canan & Co 38 

W. L. Shellenberger , 42 

LIVERY STABLES. 

Duke & Arthur 150 

C. W. Klink Ill 

LUMBER MANUFACTURERS. 

Mountain City Eumber Co 163 



MANUFACTORIES. 

Altoona Iron Co 8 

Altoona Brush Co 34 

E. Buechle (Soap Factory) 153 

Altoona Novelty Manufacturing Co 154 

M. Poet (Cabinet Works) 110 

W. L. Adams (Manufacturers' Agent)... 78 

MEAT MARKETS. 

Pajre 

George Beck 78 

Elway & Mattas 50 

Zach Endress 150 

J. A. Laif erty 154 

Cal Replogle 154 

MERCHANT TAILORS. 

M. M. Dieffenbacher 46 

G. M. Cesser 124 

Porter W. Shultz 149 

MILLINERY. 

Gable & Co 2 

Mayers 38 

MILK DEPOTS. 

C. W. Boring- 30 

C. M. Smith 78 

MONEY TO LOAN. 

A. H. McCamant 153 

W. H. Weber 119 

MUSICAL MERCHANDISE. 

F. A. Winter 26 

MUSIC SCHOOL. 

Altoona Conservatory of Music 136 

NEWSPAPERS AND PRINTING OF- 
FICES. 

The Gazette 58 

The Independent 170 

The Mirror 

The News , 144 

The Times 54 

The Tribune 22 

The Volk.-fuhrer 107 

PARK AND ELECTRIC ROAD. 

Logan Valley Electric Railway .Inside Front 

OPERA HOUSE. 
Eleventh Avenue Opera House 38 

PAWNBROKER. 

W. H. Kelly & Co 124 

PAINTING AND PAPERHANGING. 

S. M.Griffith 12 

Will M. May 163 

H. L. Wilson 153 

PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ARTISTS. 

E. D. Bonine 154 

Hart's Portrait Co 140 

George E. Howard 162 

Thomas M. Reger 34 

I C. F. Korb (Crayons) 110 

PHYSICIANS. 

S J. U. Blose 116 

B. F. Books 116 

[ J. L. Brubaker 116 



Pajje 
James M. Bunn ISO 

C. H. Closson m 

G. M. Couch 116- 

W. D. Hall H6 

H. L. Han zell H6 

H. K. Hoy ii 6 

W. K. Maglamrhlin 116 

S. L. McCarthy H6 

E. H. Morrow 116 

J. J. Oatman H6 

W. S. Ross H6 

J. W. Rowe H6 

A. S. Stayer H6 

Amos O. Taylor 116 

PLUMBERS. 

Thos. N. Baird 154 

O. L. McCartney g 

G. M. Stewart 162 

REAL ESTATE. 

S. C. Baker 149 

John Clingerman 78 

J. D. Bloomhardt 1 

L. L. Fair 150 

E. H. Flick 164 

Forney & Gossard 110 

H. B. Huff 70 

John O'Toole 30 

SADDLE AND HARNESS-MAKING. 

G. Casanave 30 

SCAVENGERING. 

Coleman Bros 50 

James Downing, Jr 163 

SCHOOLS. 

W, G. Anderson's School of Business. . . .112 
SHOE DEALERS, 

Gus Simon 153 

Geo. F. Streit 18 

D. E. SpranUle 46 

Whiunore & Co 78 



SOCIETIES. 

Golden Eagle 158 

Ht ptasophs 158 

Independent Order Odd Fellows 158 

CUT STONE. 

P. W. Finn 140- 

TELEGRAPH COMPANIES. 

Postal Telegraph 70- 

Western Union Telegraph 112 

TEAS, COFFEES, SPICES, ETC. 

Grand Union Tea Company 12 

TITLE COMPANY. 

Altoona Title Co 78- 

UNDERTAKERS. 

John P. Lafferty 30 

Geo. V. Rollins Ill 

R. K. Spicer & Co 12; 

WAGON-MAKING AND BLACK. 
SMITHING. 

Jacob Oswald 154 








THE END Z 



LOOKING BACKWARD 



BUT NOT BY 



EDWARD BELLAMY. 




BEAUTIFUL, mellow autumn day in October, 
1927. The atmosphere exhilarating and redo- 
lent with the soft-mingled aroma of ripened 
fruit and d} 7 ing verdure ; the gentle zeph} 7 rs feeling like 
the contact of silken velvet on the cheek ; a suggestion of 
smoky haze, just sufficient to soften the bright ra} 7 s of 
the sun ; a gentle stillness pervading all nature, and lift- 
ing the soul of man very near to his Creator. A day 
such as is seen only in the Middle Alleghenies. 

Two old men seated in the observatory of the Gov- 
ernment Building, Altoona, gazing with manifest awe 
and admiration on the magnificent city, spreading out in 
every direction for miles, covering all the valley and 
smaller hills, and climbing the mountain sides for sites 
for beautiful villas, their faces a study for a student of 
human nature if he could withdraw his attention from 
the delightful surroundings. 

One face showed evidence of perfect satisfaction, as 
if life had been a success and present environments were 
all that could be desired. The other, while evidently 
pleased with what he beheld, still, contained a troubled 
look, as if unpleasant memories were awakened, and the 
furrows of care on the aparently intellectual brow were 
were plainly discernible. 

Long they sat, each apparently intent on the charm- 
ing scene below, or carried back again over life's path in 
memory's fleet chariot. 

At length, the latter, turning slowly to his companion, 
said : 

"Mr. G , you do not recognize me, but I know 

you, and in years long past we had intimate business re- 
lations with each other ; both of us were trusted by 
the citizens of Altoona — then a youthful and growing 
town — with a part in the management of her business 
affairs. You have spent your life here ; have witnessed 
the city's phenominal growth, and in the faithful dis- 
charge of your duties and the industrious prosecution of 
your business, grown rich and honorable as well as 
aged and gray. I left the city during a period of finan- 
cial depression — went, let me confess it, to my sorrow 
and regret, without settling with my creditors, and 
those who had trusted me, and without a word of fare- 
well to friends — to Australia, where, by a misfortune as 
sudden as it was unforeseen, all I took with me was lost, 
and, beginning anew, I have barely, in the course of 
thirty years incessant toil, accumulated enough to bring 
me back to this Eden, pay the debts contracted long ago, 
and give me a decent burial in the soil of Pennsylvania 



when the few remaining days of my life are spent. Yon 

will, perhaps, remember the name — A if you do 

not recall a familiar feature in this age-shrunken face, 
I do not wish to say more on this painful subject. 
' Let the dead past bury its dead,' as my hopes and aspi- 
rations were buried, long ago, in an avalanche of mis- 
fortune and disappointment. In my far-away adopted 
home I heard occasionally of the remarkable growth of 
Altoona, and was, consequently, prepared to see much 
of her greatness as I now behold it. Why, oh why, did 
my evil destiny lead me from this best spot in the best 
country on earth ! Why could I not have foreseen this 
day ? Had I remained, I might easily have paid all my 
obligations, and, by the natural increase in the value of 
real estate, become wealthy. 

" I understand that Altoona now bas a population of 
310,000 inhabitants ; that her assessed valuation is 
$275,000,000, and that she is the third city in the State 
in wealth and population ; that, in addition to the im- 
mense shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Compan} 7 , 
employing 10,000 men, and the Buffalo, Altoona and 
South Continental Road, employing 8,000, there is an 
electrical-supply factor}', employing 5,000 ; novelty 
works, employing 3,000; three cotton and two woolen 
factories, whose employees aggregate 7,000 ; silk mills, 
employing 4,000 ; a furniture factor} 7 , employing 1,000; 
four large shoe factories, employing nearly 1,000 in each ; 
clothing factories, giving work to 2,000 persons ; a piano 
factory, with 500 employes, besides numberless other in- 
dustries which it was thought in 1S95 could not succeed 
because of the high freight rates. 

" I learn that the South Continental Road when con- 
structed through here in 1903 abandoned the old policy of 
avoiding grades, cuts, and fills, the winding in and 
out, crooking hither and thither to follow some stream 
channel, saving a little in the first outlay of construc- 
tion at a cost of greatly increased operating expenses 
ever afterward, and, properly regarding a railroad as a 
convenience not for this century only, but for centuries to 
come, built a road which was an air-line from Buffalo to 
Altoona, from thence direct to Washington, and from 
thence straight to New Orleans, making but two changes 
of direction from start to finish, and at no point with a 
grade exceeding 30 feet to the mile. 

" The road cost 5100,000 per mile on an average, but 
the saving in distance was more than 20 per cent, and 
the saving in rolling stock and operating expenses in the 
twenty years it has been operated, I am told, has been 



X LOOKING BACKWARD. X X 



177 



equal to #30,000 per mile, to say nothing- of the benefits 
accruing- from rapid transit. For example : From Buf- 
falo to Altoona in a direct line is 180 miles, but by the 
old method of weaving- around the foot of hills and fol- 
lowing- streams to save grading-, it would have been not 
less than 250 miles. That means SO miles of road for 
nothing-. The operating expenses of this division last 
year were $8,000,000, equal to $44,444.40 per mile ; but 
had the road been 80 miles longer it would, at the same 
rate, have been $11,555,000. The difference of $3,500,- 
000 represents the saving to the company in one year on 
one division ; but who can estimate the value of the time 
gained by travelers who avoided that extra 80 miles ride, 
or what was saved to shippers of perishable goods in 
losses from decay. The saving of distance between here 
and Washington is, of course, not so great, owing to the 
topography of the country intervening, and from Wash- 
ington to New Orleans it is still less in proportion to dis- 
tance, but on the entire line it amounts to over 200 
miles. This immense gain, I am told, was so apparent 
that the "Pennsylvania" at once began to straighten 
their line, leaving but three curves. They made it a 
a straight line from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, from 
Harrisburg straight to Altoona, and from here direct to 
Pittsburg, shortening the line between the two great 
cities 81 miles ; and, it is said, that in the fifteen years 
since the improvement was completed the actual saving 
on rolling stock, wear of rails, .keeping track in repair, 
and time of trainmen, has been equal to the original 
cost of the road when first completed in 1854. The 
only substantia] loss sustained as a result of this im- 
provement was the famous "Horse-Shoe Curve," which 
through travelers never see now ; but, by stopping over in 
Altoona and taking an electric car to the magnificent 
hotel erected in the " Kittanning Park" they may see 
the "Be nd" and ride around it. 

"The only objection ever offered to this straight-line 
idea was that it left so many towns without a railroad, 
but that difficulty was obviated by the electric feeders 
ers that branch from the main line every few miles 
and reach all the small places for a distance of ten to 
forty miles on each side of the road. New cities have 
been built at different points on the present straight 
lines, and they will gradually take the place of import- 
ance formerly held by those at a distance. The change 
enriched land owners where the new towns sprung up, 
and ruined others in the places that suffered decline, 
but this is one of fortune's freaks, and, in time, all will 
be adjusted to the new and improved conditions. 

"No feature of the new methods of railroading im- 
pressed me more strongly on my trip here from New 
Orleans than the precautions now in vogue for protect- 
ing the lives of travelers and employes, and the method 
of taking on and letting off passengers on the through 
trains. I remember so distinctly when the double 
track of the Pennsylvania Railroad, then, as now, the 
model railroad of the world, had no side-guards ; when 
trains were run at a rate of from forty to sixty miles an 
hour, even around sharp curves, trusting to gravity alone 
and an almost insignificant flange on one side of each 



wheel to keep them on the track ; when head-on and 
rear-end collisions were not uncommon, notwithstand- 
ing the block and signal system, which was considered 
so near perfection ; when hundreds of employes and 
many passengers were killed each year by railroad acci- 
dents in the United States, that the coroner's juries 
said could not have been averted ; when the wheels and 
axles of the cars were placed under the body of the cars 
and engines, where they could not be examined except 
by stopping the train. Then, when the engineer pulled 
out from the station with his train load of human 
freight after the wheels had been examined, the bear- 
ings oiled, and all supposed to be right, he opened wide 
the throttle, and, with a blind trust in Providence, 
shared also by the passengers, shot through the open 
country, over mountain and hill, through forest and 
tunnel, and across dark rivers, "limited," making no 
stop between Harrisburg and Altoona, and during that 
134-miles ride neither the engineer nor any trainman 
could watch the journals or wheels or axles for signs of 
weakness. They might run for miles after a flaw or 
break would have been manifest could they have been 
watched, but the first intimation that came to engineer, 
crew or passenger was an awful wreck, in which forms 
were mangled and souls launched into eternity. And 
yet such accidents were regarded as occasionally una- 
voidable ! Now, with side-guards of sheet steel, which 
render it impossible for a car to leave the rails ; with 
the track a straight line, which is never crossed or bro- 
ken by a switch — all transfers of cars from one track to 
another being made by huge and powerful cranes ; with 
a watchman stationed every six miles, and in plain view 
each of another, every inch of the track discernible with 
the field-glasses carried by them, and with a track patrol 
passing over the road ten minutes before each train is 
due ; with the car wheels 12 feet in diameter instead of 
42 inches, four wheels to each car instead of sixteen and 
placed at the end of each 60-foot car instead of under it, 
where the engineer can examine every part of the axle 
and bearing while going at full speed, and, of course, 
stop the train at the first indication of weakness, the 
time from Harrisburg to Altoona has been reduced to 
ninety minutes, and not a single accident has occurred 
in ten years past. In fact, an accident, in the face of all 
the care now taken to prevent it, would seem as much 
the intervention of a supernatural and malignant power 
as the safe journey of other years denoted a special be- 
nign providence in view of the awful risks, then so 
thoughtlessly taken. 

"Of course passengers on these swift trains miss 
the pleasure formerly experienced in viewing the 
scenery along the road, as there are now no side win- 
dows to the cars, all light coming in from the top, soft- 
ened by tinted glass, but they avoid the headaches for- 
merly endured as a result of that same landscape view- 
ing, and are in no danger of pneumonia from some crank 
raising windows and letting in a chill draft; and, if 
scenery is desired, they may have it at the expense of 
time by traveling from town to town on the electric roads 
which connect all, and accommodate the local traffic. 



178 



X X LOOKING BACKWARD. X X 



"As these fast trains only stop at the largest cities — 
Philadelphia, Altoona, Pittsburg, Columbus, etc. — pass- 
engers from smaller places, like Lancaster, Harrisburg, 
and Johnstown, are taken on and let off b) 7 the very sim- 
ple plan of an accompanying car and engine, which 
runs on a lighter track at the side of the main line for 
five miles on either side of these embarking stations, 
making a straight stretch of ten miles. The passengers 
from Harrisburg for the West get into this car, and their 
baggage is loaded on a truck. Then the embarking 
car runs east to the end of its line, and, as the swift 
through-train comes along and reduces its rate to forty 
miles an hour, the embarking car runs along by its side. 
Ju one minute their speed is the same, and the passen- 
gers and baggage trucks are passed across to the through 
train ; at the same time, a truck with all baggage for 
Harrisburg is transferred to the embarking car. The 
passengers who wish to stop at Harrisburg step on to 
the embarking car, and, the transfer being completed 
in three to five minutes, the through train darts off at 
her usual speed of seventy-five miles an hour, while 
brakes are applied to the embarking car, and it comes to 
a stop a mile or two west of Harrisburg, and, returning 
io that city, the passengers are landed. 

"Of course there are no grade crossings, carriage 
roads being now all carried over or under the railroad 
tracks. 

"Yesterday I made a partial tour of the city to note 
its growth and improvement, and was much pleased with 
what I saw. Remembering that Gospel Hill had been 
a favorite point of observation, I directed my course 
thither, and was surprised at the beautiful park or " bat- 
tery " which now crowns that eminence, and the mag- 
nificent residences that face it on three sides, leaving the 
side toward the southeast unobstructed. About 20 feet 
■of the extreme top having been graded off, and a stone 
wall and parapet built along the southeast side, it leaves 
a perfectly level surface of 300 by 400 feet between Four- 
teenth and Fifteenth Streets, on which, in artificial soil, 
is now growing beautiful shade trees, with some small 
spots of green lawn interspersed and lining both sides of 
Ihe cement walks. There are also a number of fine statues 
and monuments. From the massive stone parapet on the 
southeast side a delightful view of part of the city is 
obtained, while from the observatory, rising 200 feet 
from the west corner, one may sweep the horizon, and, 
-with a good field glass, see every portion of the beauti- 
ful city, as well as the man)' rich villas and palatial 
residences on the suburban hill sides. 

" In addition to almost universally paved streets and 
cement sidewalks, both of which are kept perfectly 
clean, telegraph and telephone wires in underground 
conduits along with the gas and water pipes, street cars 
propelled by storage batteries, and other similar im- 
provements, I learn that your municipal affairs are in a 
most prosperous condition, all property — except new resi- 
dences built within five years — assessed at its actual cash 
value, and the total tax levy only eight mills on the dol- 
lar ; absolute freedom from municipal debt, politics en- 
tirely eliminated from the choice of city officials, and 



every officer, as well as every board of control, free from 
the least suspicion of personal interest, 

" The principal causes, as I understand them, which 
have led to the remarkable growth of Altoona, were : 

First. The fact that many wealthy people from New 
York, Boston, and other seaport cities came here to es- 
tablish homes after the fearful bombardment of these 
places by the combined fleets of England and Spain, 
which countries declared war against the United States 
when the latter freed Cuba from the dominion of Spain, 
fixed the boundaries of Venezuela for England, and 
then gave notice that within a certain limited time 
all colonial dependencies of European Powers in Amer- 
ica must be given their independence, or, at least, home 
rule, free from all tax levies by the mother country. 

"Second. The resolution of Councils to tax vacant 
lots at their full value, and, when built upon, not to in- 
crease the assessment for five years, or to exonerate from 
payment if assessed. This idea originated in Altoona, 
and it was but a short time until a building boom un- 
precedented in any city began. The vacant lots in the 
central portions were first covered with fine buildings, 
and that enhanced the value of suburban prooerty, 
which the city limits were from time to time enlarged to 
embrace, and the increasing building operat'ons brought 
in other business of every kind. Manufacturing estab- 
lishments were built and flourished ; everybody made 
money, and Altoona became known all over the United 
States as a second Golconda. Matters have settled down 
now after the feverish rush of ten years, in which hun- 
dreds of fortunes were made, but all the manufactories 
are running steadily and at a profit, and Altoona, in- 
stead of a Mecca for agents and salesmen from a dis- 
tance, makes nearly everything her people use, and has 
representatives in all the states of the Union taking orders 
for goods made here. 

" That the United States punished and humiliated 
the attacking powers for the bombardment by landing 
500,000 men in England thirty days afterward, marching 
into London and taking down the Parliament House 
piecemeal and making a stone and rubbish heap of it, 
besides collecting an indemnity of one billion dollars 
from Great Britain, while the Spanish monarch, with 
his entire ministry, was compelled to come to Washing- 
ton and apologize personally to the President, was a 
sufficient vindication of the power of the United States 
and rendered any subsequent similar disaster improbable, 
still, many people concluded that they preferred to live 
inland since war ships carried guns throwing deadly 
dynamite bombs twenty miles ; and Altoona, with its 
delightful surroundings and healthful climate, attracted 
them by thousands. 

' But why enlarge on a subject, so familiar to you, 
however wonderful to me. These facts are now a part 
of history, and Altoona has attained such prominence in 
America as none could have foreseen in 1895, or have be- 
lieved had it been predicted. It is, of course, fortunate 
for mankind that the future is a sealed book, and that 
our vision is extremely limited except when looking back- 
ward." 



THE LEADING PAPER IN CENTRAL PENNA. 









# 





I Statement Showing the Circulation of tlie Altoona Mirror from .Ian. 1, 1895 to Jan. 1, 1896. () 

— ~ ~ ■ — $ 

ft 



April 
May.. 



Af< 



Sept . 
Oct... 
Nov. . 
Dec... 



13 3 4 5 li 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 30 31 33 33 34 35 36 

3775 3775 3775 3800 4175 .... 3993 7750 3750 3770 3750 +110 .... 3775 3775 3750 3775 3750 4200 .... 3750 3750 3800 3760 3775 4410 
4050 4275 .... 3875 3875 3875 3875 3825 4200 .... 3825 3850 3900 3975 3925 4250 .... 3925 3925 3975 3925 3950 4 (.0 .... 3930 4C00 

3975 4365 3975 3975 3975 3975 3950 4475 .... 4025 411 04050 4025 4525 4500 .... 4030 4100 4100 4100 4100 4500 .... 41WI 4100 

4110 4050 40504050 4050 4460 .... 4050 4050 4040 4050 4050 4450 .... 4050 4050 4050 4025 4050 4450 .... 4000 400 4000 4000 4000 
3950 39503900 4400 .... 3900 3900 3950 3950 3925 4500 .... 39C0 391X1 3900 3900 3925 44C0 .... 3900 3900 3900 3900 3900 4300 .... 
4275 .... 3850 3850 3850 3850 3850 4225 .... 3850 3850 3850 3860 3850 4225 .... 3850 3875 3900 3900 3900 4250 .... 4100 39003900 
3850 3850 3925 .... 3875 4200 .... 3875 390O390O 3850 3850 4225 .... 3875 3875 3875 3875 3875 4375 .... .3900 3900 3925 3915 3935 
3900 3900 4400 .... 3910 3900 3900 3900 3900 4400 .... 3900 3900 3900 3930 3900 4400 .... 5900 39 .'5 39^5 3900 39(10 4420 .... 3900 
.... 391X1 3900 3925 3925 392? 42.15 .... 3925 3850 3850 3850 3850 4150 .... 3825 3S25 3825 3825 3825 4150 .... 3850 3825 3825 3825 
3 25 3825 3825 3825 4150 .... 3825 3825 3825 3825 3825 4150 . . . . 3S25 3850 4150 3850 3850 4150 .... 3875 3925 4025 4010 3925 4250 
3925 4280 ..... 950 3950 4210 3950 3950 431X1 .... 3950 3950 4CG0 4000 4X0 4300 .... 4000 41X10 4000 4000 4000 4325 .... 4000 4000 
.... 4000 4000 4000 4000 4000 4400 .... 4000 41100 40 .0 4000 4000 4400 .... 4000 41.00 4000 40011 4000 4400 .... 41X10 4000 .... 4000 
Total, 1,346,533 Copies ." 311 = 4,008 -i- Average Daily Issue. 



37 38 39 30 31 Total. 

.... 40511 4010 4050 4050 1(885? 

3975 3075 95665 

4100 4100 4110 4510 ■ • ■ ■ ill 7840 
4450 .... 3950 3925 .... 1106460 
385H 3850 4H50 3850 3850,107500 

3900 3900 4225 98835 

4425 3925 3950 3950 102875 

3900 3925 3900 39C0 4225 II 7730 
3825 4150 3825 97675 

.... 3925 3925 3925 3025 106110 

4000 4':00 4000 4350 ^105390 

4000 4400 .... 4000 4IHXM016O0 

Grand Total, 1,346.533. 



Jlltoona, SPa.j 
illustrated^ 

Jinatyzedj 



3^ 



J> 



{Published 6j/ direction of the ffioard 
of Tirade. C. Sft. Clark, 

Gpitomized. ^ ana ^ <?«w 



issued 9?f arch, 1S96. 




he Altoona Board of 3 hs tin first Friday of each month at 8 o'clock P. M., in their rooms, I 

No. 1306 Flev^. Avenue, sc-cond floor. W. L. Shellenberger, President. 

S. I. Frit W. H. Kerr. Vice Presidents. S. J. Westley, 
Trea^ • ] erguson, Secretary. 



